The Bluegrass Youth Sustainability Council and Yates Elementary Sustainability Coordinator Josh Radner were recognized @ the Lexington Environmental Commission Awards Breakfast Tuesday Oct 30th.
The Bluegrass Youth Sustainability Council, a coalition of >50 student leaders from all Lexington pubic and private high schools, collaborate with elected officials, nonprofits and their school Green Teams to improve sustainability on their campuses and city at-large through projects such as campus tree planting, recycling awareness, energy audits, campus landscaping, rain barrel auctions, water bottle refilling station installations, school garden support and much more.

Josh Radner's Outdoor Classroom @ Yates Elementary includes 16 raised beds for vegetable cultivation, a greenhouse equipped with a rain barrel and solar-panel powered exhaust fan, a large rain garden, seating areas for two classroom groups, a demonstration composting area, bird-feeding stations, and a wildlife habitat planted largely in native wildflowers, ferns and other plants.