Schools
Mt. Pleasant Science Teacher Hits the Big Time for the Planet
Douglas Jay wins the Garden State Green Award.
Did an after school club called “The Earth Keepers” lead to a prestigious Garden State Green Award (also known as a “Boggie”)? Mount Pleasant Middle School’s Douglas Jay thinks so.
The 6th grade science teacher was selected for the Individual Teacher Award (K-8) in honor of his contributions to preserving the environment.
That contribution encompasses his work with The Earth Keepers, including tree plantings, planting flowers around the front of the school, clean-up around MPMS, building and maintaining a garden at the school, composting in the school cafeteria and teacher’s lounge, plus hikes with students and their families.
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The Earth Keepers are conducting an experiment to see how much water 6th graders waste from using plastic water bottles. Jay admits that he has “a vendetta against plastic water bottles," so this is a satisfying experiment this is turning out to be educational too.
His science classes also completed a carbon footprint project where students needed to create something useable out of reusable items that would otherwise be thrown away.
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In his four years at Mount Pleasant Middle School, Jay has chosen to lead by example which, he says, is “simple, yet powerful.” He was nominated for the award by Donna Brower, the parent of a former and current student, and Erica DeRosa, a teacher at MPMS. Jay was recognized by Kean University as part of its Garden State Green Fest.
