In early times, the place now known as NAGA was
abundant with trees locally called “Narra”. The first
settlers named the place as “Narra” (derived from
the Narra trees) and named it in later years to what
it is now – NAGA.
Considered as one of the oldest settlements in the
Province of Cebu, Naga became a municipality on
June 12, 1829 and has gone through a series of
reclassification simultaneous with its healthy
economic development as it grows.
The tranquil farming and fishing villages of the
natives were raised to a fuss when the Spaniards
arrived and explored the coal mining in upland
barangays. Coal then became the first export
product of the town, as the Spaniards mined and
sent them to Spain. Second to coal was cement
product.
The mining industry undeniably triggered the
successful industrial development of Naga. As the
years progressed, quite a number of manufacturing
companies and other industries flourished in the
place and eventually makes Naga as one of the
industrialized locality in Cebu at present.
Naga has recently gained its new status from 1st
class municipality into a component city in the First
District of Cebu by virtue of R.A. 9194 which was
ratified through a plebiscite on September 02, 2007
under the sponsorship of Congressman Eduardo R.
Gullas, now respected as the “Father of the City of
Naga, Cebu.”
MANILA- From the island of Cebu, Naga City made
headlines Thursday, after at least 10 people
were killed when a portion of a mountain collapsed
and buried some 20 houses.
Naga City in Cebu, not to be confused with the one
in Bicol Region, is home to 115,000 people.
Here are some facts about Visayas' Naga City:
NAME:
The city's name comes from the Narra trees
abundant in the place which are locally called
"Naga" in Cebuano.
LOCATION:
Naga city is located in the southeastern part of Cebu
province and is a 35-minute drive from the city of
Cebu. It belongs to the 1st district of Cebu.
TOPOLOGY
A first-class city, Naga is composed of 28 areas
divided into mountain villages and coastal areas.
The villages are: Alfaco, Bairan, Balirong,
Cabungahan, Cantao-an, Central Poblacion, Cogon,
Colon, East Poblacion, Inoburan, Inayagan, Jaguimit,
Lanas, Langtad, Lutac, Mainit, Mayana, Naalad,
North Poblacion, Pangdan, Patag, South Poblacion,
Tagjaguimit, Tangke, Tinaan, Tuyan, Uling, and
West Poblacion.
INDUSTRY:
Among the products of Naga City are rice, corn, and
rootcrops. Fishing is also a source of livelihood for
people living near coastal areas.
Several industries can also be found in Naga such as
power plants, cement manufacturing, and marble
production.
Among the power plants it houses are the Salcon
Power Corporation in Colon, and the Korean
Electrical Power Corporation.
Other businesses in the city are the APO Cement
Plant in Tina-an, and the KYOCERA Kinseki
Philippines Incorporated in Cantao-an which
produces parts for mobile phones.
There is also the SME (Small Medium Enterprise)
industrial park in Cantao-an which houses several
medium-sized companies.
ATTRACTIONS:
While Naga City is primarily an industrial one, it
still has sites for tourists such as the Naga
Boardwalk and Park which sits just across the
shoreline.
For those into sports, the Teodoro Mendiola Sports
Field and Oval is a place to see.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT:
Since 2016, lawyer Kristine Vanessa Chiong has
been mayor of Naga City.
She succeeded her father Valdemar Chiong, who
served as mayor from 2006 to 2016.
What Is a Green School?
There are many ways to describe a green school,
but all share a commitment to environmental
sustainability. The elementary school students at
the Sustainability Academy at Lawrence Barnes
Elementary School in Burlington, Vermont,
expressed it well: “Sustainability is the belief that
everything is interconnected.” Based on my work at
Head-Royce and my case studies of other schools, I
believe that there are five critical foundations in a
green school. In his remarkable book The Fifth
Discipline, Peter Senge demonstrates how systems
thinking is at the heart of high-performing learning
organizations. This means that environmentally
sustainable green schools need to develop all five of
these elements in an integrated fashion:
1. Efficient use of resources
2. A healthy environment
3. An ecological curriculum
4. Nutritious food
5. Sustainable community practices
It’s important to note at the outset that there is no
“one best system” to develop these foundations;
every school is unique, and each school can take its
own path. But for a school to be a model green
school, all elements have to be embraced. When
they are, the organization as a whole begins to
develop a “culture of sustainability,” one in which
individual participants are empowered to make
changes and all follow agreed-upon norms. Later in
this chapter, I will illustrate these five foundations
with the work being done in schools across the
country.
Who Says It's A Green School?
As one might expect, many organizations have
entered the field to certify that schools are green
and environmentally sustainable. The Green
Schools Initiative’s “Four Pillars of a Green School”
offered early guidance on defining environmental
sustainability in schools: green schools strive to be
free of toxins; use resources sustainably; create a
green, healthy place for children; and focus on
environmental education.
In Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability, the
Center for Ecoliteracy (CEL) offers four guiding
principles for sustainable schools:
1. Nature is our teacher.
2. Sustainability is a community practice.
3. The real world is the optimal learning
environment.
4. Sustainable living is rooted in a deep
knowledge of place.
Wisely, CEL observes that while there is “one
movement,” there are “many routes” to becoming a
green school.
In April 2011, the U.S. Department of Education
announced the creation of a new Green Ribbon
Schools program, which seeks to identify exemplary
schools nationwide that feature energy efficiency
and sustainability, healthy school environments,
and educational programs that prepare
environmentally literate graduates.
Researcher Julian Dautremont-Smith at the
University of Michigan and Berkshire School
Sustainability Director Frank Barros have identified
more than 35 different rating and recognition
programs. Nationally, several certification
programs exist for newly constructed and
renovated school buildings, like the U.S. Green
Building Council LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) Program and the CHPS
(Collaborative for High Performance Schools)
Program. The National Wildlife Federation runs
Eco-Schools USA to recognize green schools. The
newly launched Green Schools National Network
has identified Green School Design Essentials to
promote environmental sustainability.
At the state level, there are a number of recognition
programs; the Maryland Green Schools Program,
administered by the Maryland Association for
Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE) in
conjunction with the Maryland Department of
Education, is a strong example of a program that
has certified nearly 400 of 2,000 schools in the
state.
At the college and university level, the Association
for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher
Education (AASHE) has developed STARS
(Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating
System) to measure sustainability in three areas ––
Education and Research; Operations; and Planning,
Administration, and Engagement –– and has several
hundred participants.9 A group of nine New
England boarding schools are currently adapting
the STARS metrics for their use.
How to define and measure the performance of
green schools is one of the key challenges facing the
K–12 environmental sustainability movement.
How to Green Your School
The process of greening a school requires
adherence to well-established principles of
organizational change. Here I offer three possible
approaches. The first articulates the process we
used at Head-Royce School in creating a model
green school and which I now recommend through
my work with Inverness Associates. The second
represents the advice we followed from the Green
Schools Initiative’s “7 Steps to a Green School.” And
the third is the model from National Wildlife’s Eco-
Schools, from which the Green Schools Initiative’s
guidelines were drawn. As you can see from
reviewing these three interrelated approaches,
there is no one best system to transform a school.
Inverness Associates Green School Plan
 Develop a mission statement articulating the
principles of environmental sustainability,
have a clear vision of how the school will
look in the future, and incorporate those
principles in the larger educational
philosophy statement of the school.
 Empower leadership, from the top down and
the bottom up, with the head of school and
the board establishing direction and with a
sustainability director organizing the
ongoing change process. The commitment of
the head and the support of the board of
trustees are crucial, expressed through
strategic planning and the budget’s
allocation of resources.
 Organize the effort by establishing an
Environmental Council composed of
teachers, administrators, students, parents,
and board members to provide overall
direction and to focus on systemic changes.
Green Teams of these constituent groups can
plan and implement appropriate activities in
their sphere of the school’s operation.
 Focus on the five foundations to ensure
emphasis on key priorities –– efficient use of
resources, a healthy environment, an
ecological curriculum, nutritious food, and
sustainable community practices.
 Develop a green plan: Conduct an audit of
the school’s environmental sustainability,
identify annual goals, create an action plan
for improvement, assess accomplishments
on a regular basis, and report the results to
the community.
 Follow a green school process that is
appropriate for your school community, and
regularly evaluate the strategic direction,
current status, and near-term actions.
Green Schools Initiative: 7 Steps to a Green
School
The Green Schools Initiative (GSI) was founded in
2004 by parents concerned about the
environmental health and ecological sustainability
of their schools. They mobilized to “catalyze and
support ‘green’ actions by kids, teachers, parents,
and policymakers” with the goals of eliminating
toxics, using resources sustainably, creating green
spaces and buildings, serving healthy food, and
teaching stewardship.
The GSI website contains excellent resources,
including tools to audit the school’s performance.
These are GSI’s “7 Steps to a Green School”:
1. Establish a Green Team or Eco-Committee.
2. Adopt an environmental vision statement or
planet pledge.
3. Conduct a school environmental survey or
audit.
4. Create a green school action plan.
5. Monitor and evaluate progress.
6. Integrate greening into the curriculum.
7. Inform, involve, and celebrate!
Eco-Schools Program
The Eco-Schools program was started in 1994 to
“model environmentally sound practices, provide
support for greening the curriculum and enhance
science and academic achievement.” It currently
operates in 58 countries in Europe, North and
South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

In 2008, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF)

became the Eco-Schools host for K–12 schools in
the United States. The Eco-Schools website contains
excellent resources for greening a school, including
the Seven Steps:

1. Eco-Schools Committee
2. Environmental review
3. Action plan
4. Monitoring and evaluation
5. Curriculum work
6. Informing and involving
7. Eco-code (a mission statement)