In conjunction with MLS Works third annual Greener Goals Week and Washington Green Schools Day of Service, the Seattle Sounders front office and RAVE Foundation teamed up with Washington Green Schools, Abbott Construction and Delta Air Lines for a day of volunteer work at Bow Lake Elementary in the SeaTac community.
Volunteers worked with Bow Lake Elementary students to expand the school garden, adding several new raised planting beds and a compost system, planted vegetables, installed a new patio area where students can wait for after school pick-up without getting muddy, created planters from reused milk cartoons and kicked off an anti-idling campaign to reduce exposure to air pollution.
4th graders at Bow Lake wrapped up a classroom experience, playing Operation Sustain, a video game created by students from Tesla STEM high school in Redmond. The high school students have been collaborating with Washington Green Schools to bring environmental learning to the students at Bow Lake.
“We were thrilled to collaborate with 65 volunteers and over 100 students on our eighth project together with Washington Green Schools," said Kimberly Aigner, Sounders FC Director of Community Outreach. "Yesterday was an example of a larger effort to highlight the club’s commitment to service and sustainability; one of our community leadership pillars. It was fantastic to see the student’s excitement to work alongside volunteers and bring their garden to life."
Volunteers also painted a reconverted futsal court with artwork design by MLS Watercolorist. Additionally, each student from Bow Lake was given a soccer ball and Sounders tickets at an end of day assembly featuring Lamar Neagle.
At the assembly, RAVE Foundation and the Sounders announced their commitment to Bow Lake and the SeaTac Community with soccer clinics and in-school curriculum, as well as new soccer goals for their fields and tickets to future Sounders matches to incentivize school attendance.
"RAVE Foundation is pleased to be using soccer as a vehicle to invest in and support in this wonderful SeaTac school," said Ashley Fosberg, Executive Director of RAVE Foundation. "Our goal is to help Bow Lake students be excited to come to school, to learn, and to play! We hope this is just the beginning of a long-term relationship with the SeaTac community."
Washington Green Schools is also excited to collaborate with Sounders FC to announce “Rave Green Certification” this season. Any school in Washington State who achieves or sustains “gold” or “platinum” status will be recognized as a “Rave Green” school and eligible to receive Sounders FC benefits. On Sunday, April 22 some of these benefits will be actualized as Maple Elementary’s green team will participate in the Xbox Dream Team, walking out of the tunnel and holding hands with Sounders FC and Minnesota United players. John Roger’s Elementary School’s green team will meet with a player on the pitch and over 800 students and parents from green teams throughout the state will be in attendance and wearing green to celebrate earth day and their commitment to sustainability.
