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They're green, but they want to be greener.
Students at City Academy in Salt Lake City have been recognized as one of the most environmentally conscious schools in the nation.
Among other things, students grow organic vegetables. They built a small greenhouse and distribute plant starts to the community at a very modest price.
Students also started a beehive to help pollinate fruit trees on campus and to help grow the bee population. And they make bio-diesel from used vegetable oil for their school bus, dubbed the "Grease Bus."
Recently the public charter school, which includes grades 8 through 12, was named one of five winners in the nationwide "Green Your School Challenge" sponsored by Hewlett Parkard and DoSomething.org.
The prize: $1,000 for their next green project.
City Academy, 555 E. 200 South, was founded 12 years ago and has an enrollment of about 200, said spokeswoman Susan Webster. It's a publicly funded preparatory school and like any public school, does not charge tuition.
The students say they thrive on the small class sizes and individual attention at City Academy, along with a rigorous curriculum.
Lucas Hayes, 16, is in the 10th grade and previously attended a much larger public school.
"They make every class fun here," he said. "It's incredible how much I've learned in the past two years."
He's a member of the academy's green school committee, as is 16-year-old junior Shivonne McMullin.
She explained that the committee's garden project was intended to give students first-hand experience growing such things as lettuce, garlic, carrots and tomatoes. "But our main goal was to promote organic gardening throughout the community."
McMullin said City Academy is more to her liking than the large high school she had attended. "I came here because I wanted an academic challenge and I got one."
The school's green projects are intended to supplement and expand on class work, Webster noted.
"These kids get to experience hands-on learning," she said. "Teachers can expand curriculum to bring about the best learning conditions."
City Academy "green supervisors" Tom King and David Vala help the students with the greenhouse, production of bio-diesel and their beehive.
Nikole Pruess, 15, is a ninth-grader who takes a lot of interest in the school's bees. This fall, Pruess and her classmates hope they will be able to harvest the hive's honey.
"We want to educate the public about bees," she said. "Without bees, you wouldn't have the food you ate an hour ago."
Pruess said the small size of the academy makes the learning experience personal. "You can actually communicate with the teachers here," she said.
Ninth-grader Phoebe Stokes, 15, explained how the school's bio-diesel program collects vegetable oil from restaurants in order to refine clean-burning fuel for the Grease Bus.
"We're recycling and we aren't adding to the pollutants," she said.
Alex Martinson, a 16-year-old sophomore, said the school's green projects have opened his eyes to making a difference on an individual basis.
"I've picked up recycling a lot more since I've been at this school. And we're starting a vegetable garden at home," he said. "This school has helped me with academics and everything."