Class Will Live the Green Dream in L.A.

The Green Dream class at Beachwood High School has been recognized nationally for being Junior Achievement’s most successful business, raised money to build the “ultimate” green classroom, secured Planet Green TV’s Sarah Backhouse to host their recent gala and expects to sell out of exhibitors' booths at their upcoming green expo.

And now, it pays off.

Students who met a sales goal in the class earned a trip to Los Angeles next month to see green initiatives in action.

“It’s really a great feeling to know that we earned it and we worked really hard to be able to go on the trip,” said senior and co-CEO of the class Jen Tripi. "It’s something that you know you deserve.”

The “eco-business trip” will include dinners at the Avalon Hotel, where the produce served in the restaurant is grown in the building’s rooftop garden and at Forage, where neighbors get restaurant credit in exchange for their home-grown produce; tours of two “smart” homes and the world’s first LEED-certified airplane hangar; and, possibly, a viewing of the taping of Backhouse’s TV show.

“It was just astonishing to hear that I had earned a trip to L.A.,” said co-CEO and senior Michael Bohm. “Obviously, it keeps everyone motivated towards raising money for our two events. It’s a great incentive: an L.A. trip. You would not expect to see that kind of opportunity in a high school class.”

The qualifying students’ sales are enough to pay for their hotel and airfare, said Green Dream teacher Greg Perry.

Tripi said that, in addition to the incentive the trip gave the students, the trip caused a little friendly competition amongst the kids. “It was a cool kind of twist to it, to have something to kind of push yourself.” 

The kicker, said Tripi, was that she gets to go with her classmates. “Our class is almost like a family in itself. Not only are we together every day in the class, but everyone gets along in the class. I think that we’ve formed a bond that will last a long time, if not a lifetime.”