Chelmsford Students Win Grant For Air Quality At High School

CHELMSFORD, MA — Six Chelmsford High School students helped the school win a grant to help improve air-quality at the school.

This was the fourth year the school's Environmental Science students were able to secure a grant from Austin, Texas-based EcoRise, an environmental education firm which aims to empower schools and students to improve sustainability.

The six students — seniors Emma Walsh, Kristina Reynolds, Joshua Walsh, Michael DeChiara, Evan Coady and Terry McKinney — submitted three proposals to the firm to improve ventilation.

"EcoRise picks few of the schools that apply," Environmental Studies teacher Brian Acheson said Monday in his announcement. "It’s great to see their plans come to fruition."

EcoRise awarded the school a grant of $1,439 to fund the students’ three-pronged approach.

The EcoRise organization has previously awarded grants to the school to fund water bottle refill stations, the improvement of public space as well as the development of the outdoor gardens in the Science Pond area.

This year's project

Acheson’s students evaluated the air quality in each classroom throughout the high school focusing on ventilation, dust and debris. After a complete the audit of the rooms, the students discussed ways to either improve air quality or to find alternate solutions, such as outdoor learning.

Here's what they came up with:

Add Ficus plants to classrooms to clean toxins: Emma Walsh and Reynolds proposed adding at least one Ficus plant to each classroom, which cleans toxins such as formaldehyde (common in paper, plywood and synthetic fabrics), xylene (found in rubber, leather, smoke and exhaust) and toluene (found in oil, paints, cleaners, glues, inks and stain removers). "Because we are in a school where these objects and chemicals are constantly being used, it is important to filter them out of the air to provide safer air for students and teachers," Walsh and Reynolds wrote in their proposal.

Adding Snake plants to classrooms to remove carbon dioxide: Joshua Walsh and DeChiara took a similar stance: adding Snake plants, which remove carbon dioxide, to each classroom. “Each plant will help clean the air by taking carbon dioxide out and creating clean air,” Walsh and DeChiara included in their proposal. “The removal of the carbon dioxide also helps decrease ground level ozone in the building, which is one of the biggest contributors towards pollution.”

A designated outdoor learning space: A byproduct of the impact of COVID-19, Coady and McKinney lobbied for a designated outdoor space to encourage students to take in more fresh air. Thus, the grant will also fund a large tent, outdoor furniture, waste bins and flowers. “Throughout school, students are stuck inside the school going from class to class,” Coady and McKinney wrote in their proposal. “The tent would give shade to those who want to be outside, the furniture serves as seating for those outside, the trash bins to keep the area clean and the flowers for a nice welcoming touch.”

High school students attended school two days in person and three days remote before returning full-time on May 3. The plants and outdoor space setup are expected to be in place by the fall.

“I’m proud of seeing these kids accomplish this goal,” said Acheson.