The Sun Shade Mission

When Jasper County High School was built, a forest was cleared and, unfortunately, the school was built right in the middle of the resulting treeless field. While some landscaping has been done in the front school parking lot, none was implemented where students practice for marching band or where the school building itself is exposed. During band camp each July, marching band students are typically outside from 9 AM to 5 PM for a minimum of 26 hours spread out over two weeks. That is 26 hours of heat and exposure to the sun with no relief. The same sun exposure exists for the school building itself. The south, east, and west-facing exterior walls of the school have absolutely no trees protecting them from the sun. Even though the school isn’t alive, it still gets all-day sun and heat exposure. This causes the outside walls, which are brick, to stay heated. In turn, it heats up the school so that the air conditioner is used more frequently which releases more greenhouse gases than normal and costs more money for the school.