Prairie Crossing Charter School recently further extended the use of green energy in Illinois schools. The school recently became the only one in Lake County to make the U.S. Department of Education's first list of Green Ribbon Schools.

The school is one of three in Illinois and one of 78 nationwide that were honored for their efforts in saving energy, reducing costs, using environmentally friendly facilities, protecting health and fostering wellness.

“We’ve been doing this for years,” said Naomi Hershiser, PCCS environmental educator, to the Chicago Sun-Times. “I feel like our school has done some outstanding green initiatives. I really hope that the type of things we do travel out and get picked up by other schools."

Hershiser added that being green is healthy for the planet and kids and is good for the school, educating students on the benefits of alternative energy sources in a real-world context.

The school's nominations were announced during the 4th annual 2012 Go Green Schools Symposium in Chicago, NBC Chicago reported. The event also featured workshops for brainstorming novel ways of making Land of Lincoln schools even more eco-friendly.