MFEP commitment statement - Chaminade College Preparatory, West Hills, CA.

April Risteff, Ministry Lead at Chaminade College Preparatory, West Hills, CA, sends us the school's MFEP commitment statement with its new environmental sustainability initiatives and plans.

Commitment Statement

Context

The Laudato Si Action Platform is a call for Catholic persons and organizations at all levels to collaboratively integrate seven action areas into their day-to-day life. At the same time, the Global Compact on Education is a call to families, communities, institutions, schools, and universities to take up seven commitments to bring about a new universal solidarity.

The Marianist Family Council of North America has endorsed the formation of the Marianist Family Encounter Project to facilitate a multi-year journey of responding to the action areas and commitments proposed by Pope Francis in both the Laudato Si Action Platform and Global Compact on Education. The focus of the Encounters Project is to invite us, personally and in our communities and ministries, to bring about meaningful and life-giving encounters at the intersection of the cry of the poor, the cry of the earth, and the gift of our Marianist charism. To better facilitate participation in the action areas and commitments of both initiatives, the Encounters Project will combine these ideas into a single set of Marianist Encounter Goals.

The Marianist Encounters Team is a collaborative group made up of members of various Marianist branches and ministries who will help guide all participating entities in learning and reflecting on the Marianist Encounter Goals; affirming and sharing in initiatives already underway in each goal area; in reflecting and planning steps together that we can take to deepen our collective action; in integrating the Marianist Encounter Goals into our mission, planning, and work; and to mutually support one another in making a collective impact.

Commitment Statement

In response to Pope Francis’ proposals and the spirit of our Marianist charism, Chaminade College Preparatory, a high school in West Hills, CA, commits to being an active part of the Marianist Family Encounter Project.

By joining the Marianist Family Encounter Project, we agree to:

● Appoint (a) representative/(s) from our entity to be in contact with the Marianist Encounters Team and engage in mutual dialogue about ways to best advance the Marianist Encounter Goals.

● Submit an annual report in words, images, and/or video of our plans, process and accomplishments, and

● Share our stories on our own media and with the Marianist Encounters website:

https://marianistencounters.org/ Email: support@marianistencounters.org

Fall 22 - Summer 23:

1. Survey and analyze the results of students and faculty to create goals for the year

• Results – reducing single-use plastics, particularly water bottles, install additional water refilling stations

2. Install two new water refilling stations on West Hills Campus

3. Eliminate sales of plastic bottles in the lunchroom; adjust prices for students to encourage the use of their own bottles

4. Reduce the use of plastic bottles in our various programs:

• Robotics – has given all of its participants refillable water bottles with their names on it, reducing their need for disposable bottles.

5. Earth Week 2023:

• April 18th-20th: create Environmental Jeopardy for lunches for 4/26

• April 19th: Write up a “Chaminade Goes Green” Blurb for the CTW for the 21st

• April 24th: Chalk Art on Campus on quotes and images

• April 25th:

  1. Gift cards to coffee in the AM for reusable mugs – 10, $5 cards

  2. Chalk Art – drawings and quotes

  3. Social Media Posting

  4. Education: “Why reducing plastic/recycling is important” – Team will make Instagram, TikTok, etc. videos and share them on school social media

• April 26th: Both Lunches Table for awareness:

  1. Stickers for water bottles

  2. Earth Day Pledge: “We commit to living out their Catholic values through deep reflection, concrete action, and advocacy. We who take the pledge show resolve and constancy to live the way of St. Francis, seeking a right place in creation, day after day."

  3. Get your picture in front of the Earth banner

  4. Post to social media

Spring 2023 - End of Project

The hiring of the new architect for the development of the Phase 1 Master Plan project was recently approved by the Board, and we are in contractual discussions at this point. Areas of environmental sustainability that will be targeted include solar-powered solutions, EV charging stations, the implementation of artificial turf sports fields rather than natural grass to reduce water use, the installation of water-efficient fixtures and equipment, and the use of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) principles and designs for construction which is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. LEED provides a framework for healthy, efficient, and cost-saving green buildings.