GSHS’ Talantis Named Best Of Green Schools

Gulf Shores High School (GSHS) educator Amanda Talantis has been named a Best of Green Schools Award recipient for the “K-12 Educator” category by the Center for Green Schools, Mullet Wrapper reported. Talantis, who has been a teacher for 17 years, teaches in the Sustainability and Hospitality and Tourism academies at GSHS. In her courses, she focuses on ecotourism and sustainability to help create a more sustainable and green school system, community and region. She also leads the “Small Town, Big Garden” project, and the vegetables her students grow are prepared and served in a variety of recipes. Additionally, she is the director of the school’s extensive Earth Day program and teaches yoga to students and faculty. Her many innovative programs include a farm-to-table community event; a greenhouse with hundreds of hydroponic plants; a recycling initiative; raised beds and gardens; fresh student lunches, salad bars, snacks and smoothies from the student-grown gardens; the Dolphin Walk program for fitness; sand dune restoration at Gulf State Park; and standing desks for interested teachers.