Here in Ohio, we believe that everyone deserves to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and have a safe place to call home.
Earth Day was founded in 1970 to protest the degradation of the environment and has grown into a worldwide event with over a billion people participating annually. This year, the Columbus City Schools (CCS) community answered the call to action in a big way.
Safe Green Schools called on students, teachers, staff, and the surrounding community to take a stand for clean air, clean water, renewable energy, and the protection of our health and our children’s futures. While data centers use up our resources and AEP gets rich passing the exorbitant cost onto our schools while making them less safe. But we know that when we come together, we can win the future we deserve, and we showed that this Earth Day. Across the district, regardless of where our students come from or the color of our skin, schools held events to build community and sent a powerful message: the CCS community cares deeply about sustainability and resiliency.
Here’s a look at how our schools celebrated Earth Day 2026:
Pollinator Gardens & Green Spaces
Westgate Alternative Elementary School
Families came together and completed a school beautification project, did a trash pickup, and planted a pollinator garden for the community to enjoy.
West High School
In celebration of Earth Day, our high school science students participated in a hands-on initiative to plant native gardens around the school. This project supports local biodiversity, enhances our school environment, and allows us to work together toward a more sustainable future, a value CCS committed to when it passed the Safe Green Schools policy. Native plants play a vital role in supporting pollinators, conserving water, and restoring natural habitats, and our students have been learning about these impacts firsthand.
West Broad Elementary School
The West Broad community came together to support the school environment by planting a pollinator garden and painting colorful rocks, creating a vibrant space that encourages biodiversity while bringing students together through creativity and teamwork.
Creative Sustainability Celebrations
Duxberry Park Elementary School
Duxberry Park celebrated Earth Day with a lively parade and a creative art activity using recycled materials, bringing the school community together to promote environmental awareness and sustainability in a fun, hands-on way.
Hubbard Elementary School
Hubbard community members held a clothing swap in celebration of Earth Day. Together we kept clothes out of landfills and gave them a second life. We swapped, shared, and celebrated sustainability together.
North Linden Elementary School
The North Linden community came together to celebrate Earth Day with a fun and educational sustainability fair. Attendees planted a garden and seeds to take home, found new-to-them items at the clothing swap, created found poetry and recycled art, and relaxed with a community yoga session.
Community Cleanups
Highland Elementary School
We teamed up with our friends from What Would Marcus Do to take part in a neighborhood clean-up, working together to keep our community clean while building a shared sense of responsibility for the environment.
Indianola Informal K8
The school community worked together to clean up the schoolyard and prepare the garden beds for the growing season, helping create a welcoming outdoor space while learning about care for the environment.
Columbus Alternative High School
The community, led by its students, did a neighborhood cleanup. This generation is taking responsibility for actively improving their neighborhood and the environment.
Our commitment
The Safe Green Schools resolution represents a commitment to every student in Columbus City Schools. It shows they deserve to learn in buildings with clean air, clean water, and healthy environments free from toxic hazards. Earth Day 2026 showed us what's possible when our community comes together around this vision.
But policy on paper is only the beginning. Real change happens when parents, students, teachers, and neighbors show up—like they did this Earth Day—to plant gardens, pick up trash, swap clothes, create art from recycled materials, and win a better future for all of our schools, no exceptions.