By Deborah Rogers Curtis,
Green Schools Coordinator for Missouri Gateway Green Building Council
How can sustainability professionals support schools interested in lowering their carbon footprint, reducing their impact on the environment, and creating a healthier environment for their staff and students? Volunteer as a Green Schools Quest Mentor!
The Green Schools Quest is a free program in Missouri and Southern Illinois that engages PreK-12th grade students in a school sustainability project over the course of six months, with the help of a mentor. Mentors are volunteers from the sustainability profession who can offer up to two hours per month to help students determine a project focus, create a project plan, implement the project, and analyze the project’s impact on the school, the environment, and the community. From October through March, students work on their projects with their school leader and their mentor, and then submit their project final report to a panel of judges for the chance to win prize money.
This completely free program provides professional development to school leaders and mentors throughout the school year. The 2026-2027 theme is Systems Thinking, and schools are invited to take on a project related to this complex and nuanced topic. Projects on theme receive extra points on the scoring rubric, but schools are free to pursue any sustainability project of their choice.
Enrollment in the Green Schools Quest is open until September 15th, 2026 for both schools and Mentors. Interested school leaders and potential Mentors can sign up at showmegreenschools.org/gsq or email info@showmegreenschools.org with questions. There are also three informational sessions for interested schools and Mentors, and anyone can sign up at mogreenbuildings.org/events:
- July 9, 4:30-5:00pm
- July 20, 11:30am-12:00pm
- July 29, 12:00-12:30pm
Over 200 schools have participated in this program since 2013. Join the school sustainability movement today!