Planet Green Force partners with Gifft Hill School for sustainability

Sep 18, 2026

Gifft Hill School is excited to announce that it has become a partner school of Planet Green Force (PGF), a project initiated by nonprofit Island Green Living. PGF is a greening education program developed in collaboration with UNESCO, emulating UNESCO’s Greening Education Partnership which empowers young people to become advocates, innovators, and leaders in building a more sustainable world. Planet Green Force’s mission supports the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and incorporates principles associated with UNESCO’s Greening Education Partnership, Climate Science Literacy, and related environmental education frameworks.

The GHS-Island Green/PGF partnership reflects the significant alignment between the school’s existing programs and PGF’s educational structure, which emphasizes the integration of age-appropriate environmental and agricultural concepts into the core curriculum and extracurricular pursuits. A Planet Green Force Society will be established at GHS, which will implement programming incorporating related research, writing, field trips, and competitions. PGF’s “Green Word of the Week” concept will be introduced. Additionally, students will collect plastics and aluminum from home for Island Green Living’s recycling program as well as used items for the nonprofit’s ReSource Depot reuse store.

At GHS, the Education and Resilience Through Horticulture (EARTH) program, which already provides this type of learning experience spiraling through the curriculum from toddler through 12th grade, will be enhanced through the association with PGF. Through hands-on experiences with gardening, composting, aquaponics, hydroponics, food production, and entrepreneurship, students explore sustainability while making meaningful connections across science, technology, nutrition, mathematics, and other disciplines.

The school’s environmental commitment also extends beyond the classroom. GHS is a single-use plastic-free zone and promotes a culture of thoughtful consumption and low resource use throughout its campuses.

“We are excited to become a Planet Green Force partner school because the organization’s vision so closely reflects the work Gifft Hill School has been doing for years,” said GHS Head of School Liz Kinsella. “Our commitment to sustainability is central to who we are as a school. This partnership will help us build upon that strong foundation while connecting our students to a broader global movement and to educational frameworks developed in collaboration with UNESCO.”

Island Green Living and Planet Green Force have supported GHS’s EARTH program over the years, helping strengthen its role as a model for schools seeking to integrate environmental education into their own curricula. The latest contribution, made in recognition of the GHS-Island Green/PGF partnership, represents the most significant support to date and will help support GHS’s EARTH program and related Island Green/PGF activities in the 2026-2027 school year.

“We see this as a natural progression of the association between Gifft Hill School and Island Green Living, taking things to the next level with a formal partnership between the school and Planet Green Force,” said Island Green President Harith Wickrema, who officially founded nonprofit Planet Green Force in 2024. “The vision and objective are that every child/learner embraces the principles and foundation of the greening education pillars. We are investing in food security by supporting aquaponics and hydroponics as well as a school gardening farm bot, composting, and other efforts. The hope is that young learners can motivate their parents to embrace and emulate home container and backyard gardening to reduce importation of food. “The school’s dedication to sustainability and its distinctive EARTH program make it a particularly good fit and we are gratified to have Gifft Hill as our first PGF school in the U.S. Virgin Islands.”

Gifft Hill School looks forward to working with Planet Green Force to deepen its commitment to sustainability and prepare the next generation of environmental advocates, innovators, and leaders.