As a public charter school in Aliso Viejo, Journey School always travels its own road. Here children bring lunches packed in reusable containers, wooden or natural toys replace plastic and organic gardening with composting worms is a regular curriculum component. Students recite verses reminding them to respect the earth. Adopting a green policy was a natural step.

This fall the school relocated to a typical California campus. Previously known as Foxborough Elementary, a campus of about a dozen well-used "portables" and plots of bare dirt where relocated buildings stood, provides a home to just over 200 K-8 students.

One third of California's school campuses are just like this one, and in most cases, due to lack of funding, time or interest, that's the way they stay. This eco-conscious community, however, has different plans. Rolling up sleeves and opening pocketbooks, parents, teachers and administrators have embarked upon a greening transformation by:

• Using "green" cleaners, non-toxic paint and eco-friendly carpet to refurbish classrooms; improving indoor air quality with classroom plants and an "open door/open air" policy
• Forming alliances with local nurseries to re-landscape using drought tolerant and native plants
• Transforming bare plots of dirt into "zen gardens" of succulents and beautiful hardscape designs created by students
• Negotiating with gardeners to replace spraying toxic chemicals with using natural pest deterrents
• Forming a new "green" group consisting of parents, teachers and 8th graders to manage the school's Reduce-Reuse-Recycle program
• Establishing a new green policy to increase energy efficiency and water conservation
• Closing the loop by purchasing environmentally sound and post-consumer products and paper

Journey School will host an Eco-Friendly Evening with Chris Prelitz, Green Builder and Solar Consultant from Laguna Beach. Chris will share the latest "green" building technologies for today's residential or commercial buildings, along with many other helpful tips on how to green your home and live more eco-conscious. Chris has over 25 years of experience with green and sustainable design and construction. He redesigned and built the first permitted solar electric home in OC. His Laguna Beach home has been featured in Natural Home Magazine, OC Home & Riviera Magazine to name a few. For more info on Chris Prelitz, please visit www.prelitz.com

And watch for him on the Discovery Home Channel this December!

Pre-event Tickets-->$10

Pre-event Tickets for Journey School Families-->$8

Tickets at the Door-->$12

Tickets can be purchased online or through the Journey Office. Please contact the Journey Office at 949-448-7232 or Janette Loreto at 949-201-6394 for information and tickets.