Wrapped in Hope: Duchesne Academy

Happy Monday, and welcome to the fifth installment of our series: Wrapped in Hope. This time, featuring Duchesne Academy.

Duchesne is a school that strives to offer an education based on the commitment to “faith in God, academic excellence, development of social responsibility, formation of an inclusive community and personal dignity” (Duchesne Academy).

I am not a student of Duchesne, so I cannot attest to their ability to foster an education based on many of these things, but one thing I know for certain is that they are completely dedicated to the development of social responsibility. Let me explain.

It may be easier to create a list of things that Duchesne hasn’t done for the environment or hasn’t pledged to do. Duchesne hasn’t figured out a way to harvest energy out of thin air, they haven’t eradicated all of the carbon from our atmosphere, and they haven’t reversed rising sea levels.

Oh wait, no one’s done that yet.

But, Duchesne has created a system of recycling throughout the entire school (including a Hefty ReNew program), became the first school in Omaha to install a solar panel array (the carbon offset equivalent now of planting 650 trees), and they were the first school in Omaha to launch a composting program.

Duchesne also hosted the first “Caring for Creation in Catholic Schools Conference.” The event was attended by over 50 students and educators from Omaha Catholic Schools.

Sarah Romero, the student leader of Duchesne’s Sustainability Club, has worked to organize a neighborhood pick-up and a clothing swap this year. The club is also involved in various fundraising events such as a bake sale and a button/sticker sale in which the proceeds go towards Duchesne’s Sustainability goals as a school.

Assistant Principal, Mr. Eric Krakowski, has also worked to educate the freshmen classes at the start of each year about the basics of recycling and composting—how Duchesne does these things and why. This education is incredibly important to the recycling and composting system as a whole.

Duchesne achieved the goal of “Zero Waste” by diverting 91% of the school’s waste from the landfill in 2022. Duchesne also partnered with Goodwill Industries “Good Bytes” program in 2018 and 2023 to collect over 7000 pounds of used electronics for recycling. Also, since 2018, Duchesne has hosted an annual Christmas Light Collection Drive (partnering with Scrap Central, Inc. to collect over 3500 pounds of used Christmas lights for recycling.

Most recently, Duchesne has been working on the establishment of a new athletic facility. Recognizing the ever-greater demand that a facility like this could place on the environment and its resources, Duchesne has pledged to install a geothermal heating system in the facility.

As a result of these efforts, Duchesne has been recognized for many awards, including:

1. Being recognized by the French Embassy in the U.S. as one of the three winners of the three winners of the 2019 G7 Eco-Citizen contest.

2. Earning a Green Star from the Ignatian Solidarity Network.

3. Receiving an “Energy Star” certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

4. Being recognized by Hillside Solutions for the 2023 “Eco-Friendly Schools Award.”

5. Receiving the 2022 Keep Nebraska Beautiful awards for first place in two categories.

6. Receiving the prestigious recognition of the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School in 2020—one of 39 schools nationwide to receive the honor that year.

Duchesne has made incredible progress for the betterment of the environment. But they aren’t stopping here. Duchesne has fulfilled their mission of the development of social responsibility a million times over, but they aren’t giving up. Duchesne has pledged to have Net Zero Carbon Emissions by 2045 as well—on top of continuing all of the work they are doing.

The work that Duchesne Academy has done is sincerely incredible. Duchesne is relentless for change, constantly pushing the limits of what many may think is feasible on a high-school level.

Thank you Duchesne Academy for the incredible work you’ve done.