Last night the Fremont County School District 1 board voted on building the new middle school LEED certified. The school district demonstrated their commitment to the well-being of their students and the community by voting to build the new school “Gold” level. (For more information on LEED building visit www.usgbc.org.) The Gold level is one step below the platinum level, which only a handful of buildings have been built at this level in the world. The Gold level vote will ensure that the building will be energy efficient, will increase air quality within the building environment, will ensure the building design is compatible with the cultural heritage and the natural setting unique to Lander, will utilize natural lighting in the building design, and potentially provide the building as an extension of learning rather than just a vessel to contain learning. I would like to thank the school board for their choice to invest in the future of the Lander youth and community. The decision to build LEED Gold is a pioneering decision that shows leadership not only at our community level but also a model of leadership for the state.

Karl Sutton