High marks for an Earth-friendly educator

The honor is given by the Audubon Society in order to recognize teachers who have demonstrated outstanding contributions to conservation and environmental education.

Fellow fifth-grade teacher Katie Desrochers, who nominated Fiandaca for the award, said she had thought her friend deserved some kind of recognition for her work with the school's composting and tree farm programs.

The things that can be composted are put in a bucket and the fifth-graders are responsible for collecting those buckets, making sure everything in them is appropriate, and then emptying them into the compost bin, she said.

"The kids had decided they wanted to start a tree farm in order to cut them down and eventually use that money for the school or people in the community," she said.

The state Audubon Society had previously named Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School biology teacher Ken Pearson as Conservation Teacher of the Year in 2013.