Kids Say Bathrooms Are at the Heart of Schools

Looking into the school bathroom is like taking the pulse of the school itself. Is the bathroom clean and stocked with soap? Students are probably safe and learning. Filthy, smoke-filled, and graffiti-covered? Warning: students probably feel threatened and their learning environment is likely equally appalling.

It was with this first-hand experience that a group of kids began organizing for better bathrooms to be included in the rebuilding of their hurricane-ravaged New Orleans schools. And by "better," the kids mean unlocked, functioning, clean, and safe. But they didn't stop there. They want their bathrooms to be the first green public school restrooms in the country. And it looks like they may get their way.

Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools (Rethink) is a group of students in New Orleans with the simple vision of a great education for every kid in the city, regardless of race or class. Pre-Katrina, New Orleans schools ranked among the worst in the nation. Katrina destroyed most of them. Rethink sees this as an opportunity to make the schools better. And who knows more about schools than kids?

Rethink kids "dream, document, and take action" to improve their schools. Just one of the many dreams they are acting on is the dream of green bathrooms. These bathrooms will improve indoor air quality and energy and water efficiency. They will also be clean and safe.

This summer, Rethinkers worked with an architect to design a green bathroom. In July, they held a press conference about their work. School district authorities committed to using the Rethinkers' design. Now a contractor designing the district's master plan has asked the Rethinkers to help.

The UUA-UUSC Guld Coast Relief Fund is proud to be Rethink's partner in the struggle to rebuild the Gulf Coast with justice.