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SALISBURY — As part of their ongoing work in sustainability, Salisbury Academy has been  nominated by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction to be considered for national recognition as a Green Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. State nominations are only given to as many as five total early learning through 12th grade schools in N.C. each year.  

“Salisbury Academy is honored to receive this nomination and is thankful to the Green Ribbon program for their strategic guidance on sustainability,” said Beverly Fowler, head of school. “We are continuously looking to further our efforts, and the Green Ribbon application has been a healthy tool for charting our progress and road-mapping our next opportunities.”

Salisbury Academy is recognized as a school of excellence through the EnviroSmart Schools program, previously known as NC Green Schools, for its comprehensive approach to environmental education and sustainability both on campus and in the community.  

As part of this focus, Salisbury Academy supports an annual internship in partnership with Catawba College’s Environment and Sustainability Department. Now in its fourth year running, the internship provides an opportunity for environment and sustainability students at Catawba to serve as Salisbury Academy’s sustainability coordinator intern and put their studies into practice while developing professionally as they promote local, positive change.  

“One of my favorite things about this collaboration is that young adults are directly teaching and working with children, the students at Salisbury Academy,” said Andrew Jacobson, Ph.D., assistant professor of GIS and conservation at Catawba. “There is this direct connection between youths of different  ages and abilities that can make the content and delivery even more compelling than if it were coming from an adult.” 

This year’s sustainability coordinator intern at Salisbury Academy, Mitchell Bobrek, is currently a sophomore at Catawba majoring in environment and sustainability with a concentration in natural resource management and a minor in GIS. 

“I’ve always been fascinated by nature and animals,” said Bobrek. “I spent my time outside as a child, and now I find myself wanting to work with my generation to leave the world better than we found it.” 

As a recent, formative experience for Bobrek on his environmental journey, he had the opportunity last summer to join a group from Catawba on a trip to the International Conference of Conservation Biology in Rwanda. Bobrek said that the experience was eye-opening and helped to solidify his path and passion. 

In Bobrek’s work as an intern at Salisbury Academy, he is leading an after-school environmental club and engaging students in classroom discussions and labs on sustainability topics. As one example of this, Bobrek will soon take Salisbury Academy’s junior kindergarten class on an exploratory hike in Catawba’s Stanback Ecological Preserve. 

“At Catawba, I’ve gotten to do a lot of outdoor field work and work with outstanding professors, and now I’m excited to be influential in the lives of the students at Salisbury Academy,” Bobrek said. 

Dr. Mercedes Quesada-Embid, associate professor of environmental policy and advocacy for Catawba, helped to create the internship partnership and assists Salisbury Academy in identifying student intern candidates at Catawba each year. 

“Salisbury Academy has been an excellent partner in providing a setting where Catawba College’s  environment and sustainability students can thrive and effectively promote their sustainability skillsets,” Quesada-Embid said. “These sustainability efforts help to give our students the chance to merge their personal values with career success, now and into the future.”