October’s Sustainability Spotlight is shining on Andrew Seuferer, the music teacher at Holmes Elementary School! Seuferer has been an educator at LPS for 8 years and just last year picked up the role of Sustainability Champion. He quickly became one of our most passionate and impressive champions, leading his school to the largest ever Green Schools Recognition Program point total to date.
His motivation? Getting students engaged with the environment.
During the 2024-25 school year, Seuferer started an environmental club called The Prickly Planet Protectors (PPP) and invited students in 3rd-5th grades to learn about and interact with the natural environment. The club began with only four students but quickly grew to 30 within just a few weeks. Seuferer attributes this growth to the students’ passion and excitement.
“It became something that was cool,” he said.
The Prickly Planet Protectors’ activities focus on both active and artistic projects. Seuferer emphasizes the importance of getting students physically involved with the environment. In the 2024-25 year, students read books from the Climate Action Bookshelf and made corresponding posters, created art with trees across their campus, took a field trip to the Arbor Day Farm, and grew fruits, flowers, and vegetables in their garden!
Seuferer maintains the importance of starting with simple and small sustainable activities to “get the fun going” for the students.
“There are so many resources out there,” he explains, “I don’t think you have to reinvent the wheel.”
He specifically cites resources from the National Forest Service and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission as places to start. Activities listed in the Green Schools Recognition Program and EcoSchools U.S. have benefited the club as well, allowing students to set goals and decide which activities they complete each year. Seuferer said that pursuing and recognizing easy wins along the way help motivate the students on the way to achieving their broader goals.
Substantial student engagement in the process of submitting activities to different organizations and programs has become a key focus of the club. Members of the Prickly Planet Protectors meet with building administrators, promote fundraising drives and take part in hands-on experiences.
This approach has helped Seuferer lead the club to some impressive achievements in their first year. In addition to earning the top funding award through the Green Schools Recognition Program, Holmes joined the ranks of the district’s Tree Campus K-12 awardees and became the first LPS site to reach EcoSchools Green Flag certification!
He hopes that being involved in environmental advocacy and sustainability from all angles will give the students real-world connections and keep them motivated and involved as they get older.
I hope that one of the things that they can carry with them would be to get outside and to put the screens down ... If they can take that with them as they start to develop their own opinions about things, I hope that more people start to care.
With a Bike and Garden Night already under their belt for the 2025-26 school year, an upcoming tree planting, and a variety of other sustainability activities planned, we are beyond proud of the sustainability efforts taking place at Holmes. We are excited to see how Seuferer continues to lead the Prickly Planet Protectors and support the entire Holmes Elementary School community!
