Reed High is the grittiest, funkiest and most diverse of all the Washoe Co. schools in the Reno, Nevada area. It has a student body of 2400 students and is the home of the Eco Warriors, an incredibly cohesive and motivated team. These students hit the ground running after seeing the ACE Assembly in the fall of 2010 to prepare a proposal for the GREENevada Sustainability Plan Competition. "We would meet up over the weekend and after school in order to finish our proposal and plan out our next action. We even met up over Spring Break this year, when everyone is busy with their own schedules. Working with the team gave me new experiences that I hope to pass on to my other club members. It also taught me more on time management, and how crucial it is to be on time, which I believe the majority of youth these days struggle with.” – Amy (team member).

Through their research, they discovered that Reed's bathroom lights waste ~$550 and 4,100 lbs of CO2 per year per bathroom. By switching to lo-flow toilets and adding auto lights and faucets, they estimated they could save their school $4,500/year for toilets alone!Their written proposal was incredibly detailed and well-written with a separate budget spreadsheet included. Their presentation was accompanied by an amazing Prezi and each of the students spoke articulately about what they wanted to do for their school and why. In the few minutes before the presentation, when other teams were practicing the presentation, the Eco Warriors were rehearsing their answers to potential questions from the judges. They blew everyone away, won first place, and were awarded a $12,000 grant to get started on their renovations!

The best part? This all happened in only 6 months following the ACE Assembly! The Eco Warriors are currently in negotiations with the school district over how best to renovate the bathrooms. Up next in the works is an elaborate Earth Week for 2012, with a different theme each day, starting with our favorite, Meatless Monday.