Article Text

Laure Grove, an early childhood inclusion teacher at Terra Centre Elementary School, has won a 2026 Best of Green Schools Award after being selected from hundreds of nominees nationwide.

Grove received the award in the PK-12 Educator category. Presented by the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council and the Green Schools National Network, the awards recognize efforts to create healthier, more sustainable schools.

Terra Centre’s environmental programs include “Don’t Be Wasteful Wednesdays,” when students work to reduce cafeteria food waste through share tables and composting. The school also has an in-school Green Team and an after-school Eco Club.

Grove said her work has encouraged other teachers to launch environmental projects of their own. Staff members sign up to use the school garden, while the school community collects plastic bags that are recycled into sustainable benches for the campus.

Other activities extend into classrooms across Terra Centre. A fifth-grade teacher cares for chickens hatched during the annual Spring Embryology Great Egg Hatch, and another teacher donates wool from sheep for students to use as nesting material during bird units. Each pod in the school also grows grass from winter through spring to support regional native species, including blue crabs.

Earlier in the 2025-26 school year, Terra Centre received a Green Flag from the National Wildlife Federation. Grove’s sustainability work at the school has also been featured by WTOP.