Leading a Paradigm Shift, One Recycling Bin at a Time

Bertha Vazquez, 2009 Barlett Award Winner, Inspires as She Teaches

Between bites of Cuban pastry, Libby Gonzales grabs a piece of paper and tosses it into a foil-decorated cardboard recycling box tucked away in the corner beside her desk.

“She makes me do this,” says Gonzales, principal of the George Washington Carver Middle School in Coral Gables.

“She” is Bertha Vazquez, a science teacher at the school since the early 90s. But Gonzales will admit, make is too strong a word. Bertha teaches a love for nature and learning that has blossomed far beyond her classroom or even her school. And far beyond a colorful recycling bin. 

“She had led a paradigm shift in the school,” Gonzales said. “She makes us all more conscientious. And it’s contagious. We’re not complacent anymore.”

So contagious that a Carver math teacher is leading an effort to recycle old tennis shoes that will be transformed into a material used to make a running track; that the faculty uses ceramic cups instead of disposables; that the school increased its energy efficiency by 28 percent in one year and that Miami International Airport has instituted environmental initiatives spearheaded by Vazquez and her students.
 
The National Environmental Education Foundation caught on as well.

Vazquez is the third recipient of the Richard C. Bartlett Award, a national prize given to one teacher each year who best demonstrates passion and leadership in environmental education.

Bartlett, the vice chairman of Mary Kay Inc., has been active in conservation for more than 40 years. In addition to past and present service on the boards of a number of environmental organizations – the Nature Conservancy, the President’s Conservation Council, NatureServe and the Texas Clean Air Coalition – Bartlett is the former chairman of the National Environmental Education Foundation.
 
Vazquez, who is well known by past and present students and faculty for real-world environmental education in the classroom, has had an impact beyond it as well. She stood out in a crowded field of nearly 100 nominees.

Her students have led efforts to get nearby businesses to close their doors to conserve energy by not taxing air conditioners. They have participated in bird counts at Everglades National Park and have had their findings published by the National Audubon Society.

Departments throughout the school – math, science, language arts – have incorporated environmental education lessons as a result of Vazquez’s efforts. French classes write lessons to students in France to compare national strategies on climate change; science students conduct home energy audits; math students use algebra to determine the true fuel efficiency of their parents’ vehicles; language arts students read books and write essays on climate change.

The school also cut down on energy usage, painted the roof to keep the building cooler, planted a butterfly garden and dozens of new trees and bushes, reduced photocopying and, in the process, became a model for the rest of the Miami-Dade school system.

“I try to teach my students that they are a part of nature, not apart from it,” Vazquez said. “When we pollute the water, the air or the soil, we are polluting ourselves. The first step is to learn about the issues, that's where environmental education plays such a fundamental role.”

“Environmental education is not just about awareness and activism.  The simple beauty of nature is a daily gift. How rain reflects light off of a green leaf still amazes me to this day. A mockingbird's song early in the morning should never be ignored. To teach students to appreciate these little details is to give them lifelong joy,” Vazquez said.

But before imagining Vazquez as a stern lecturer on environmental awareness, visit her class.

Because Bertha can keep them laughing.

Describing her trip to Antarctica in 2001 – Bertha intersperses her stories of breaking and melting ice with tales of seal flatulence and references to penguins on icebergs as “pengies on bergie bits” in her best Australian accent.

It’s a light touch that has a powerful impact.

Madeline Cowen, now a 9th grader, was a student of Bertha’s for two years. She was among the group that presented ideas for “greening” Miami International Airport, including switching to biofuels, increased recycling and other proposals.

“Ms. Vazquez – she is probably the best teacher I have ever had,” Madeline said. “In 6th grade, when I first had her, I did not like school and I hated science. By the end of the year, I was committed to getting straight A’s and am considering a career in science. She makes learning really fun. She really cares about what she teachers and the planet. She inspires the rest of us to make the world a better place. She motivates everyone. She’s really funny.”

And she also has a wild side. A news video shows her taking a sip of the bio-diesel that will be used in her Volkswagen.

Her determination to teach her students the importance of conservation and the beauty of the outdoors and her passion for the environment has not seemed to rub many people the wrong way.

Vazquez said that when she encountered naysayers, she made effective economic arguments. Her students are invited to share data from a wide variety of sources and draw their own conclusions about controversial topics.

“I tell them to be journalists, to dig,” she said.


Those from outside the school have seen the same – a determination to expand environmental education and appreciation without forcing beliefs on anyone.

“There are faculty at her school who don’t believe climate change is as big of an issue as she does,” said Jane Gilbert, a sustainability consultant who worked with Vazquez on the greening George Washington Carver Middle School. “She never got engaged in battles about it. She just meets people where they are comfortable. At the same time, she didn’t let up on her goals. She succeeded because she changes attitudes.”

Those changes are apparent all around Vazquez – from her classroom, adored with quotes from Gandhi and frogs from the rain forest, to her students, many of whom are considering careers in science and environmental fields, to her school’s campus, which has become far more lush and energy conscious because of her efforts.

Vazquez received the $5,000 Bartlett Award at a ceremony at her school on Monday, May 11. The prize was made possible by Baxter Healthcare Corporation.

She also visited Washington, D.C. in July as part of the prize, visiting with representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Audubon Society, the American Meteorological Society, NOAA, NAAEE, and Casey Trees, a local citizen science organization. These connections helped further Bertha's network in the environmental field, and provided Bertha with additional facts about climate change that she can incorporate into her curriculum. A tour of the green-friendly Sidwell Friends school was another activity, where Bertha learned additional ways a school can conserve energy and resources.