leslie.castillo@waylandpost.org
So, they began to brainstorm what they should do to keep the playground and the surrounding properties clean The students took action to tidy up the block.
The trash revelation took place close to Earth Day and the Students Art Council, which is in charge of planning Earth Day activities, sprang into action. In a whole school assembly designed to talk about activities to preserve the earth such as recycling and composting, they also discussed cleaning up the playground.
Earth Day fell on Saturday, April 22 this year and there were a plethora of festivals and events in cities and schools around the state. At Happy Hollow, they designated a different day to clean the yard. Students arrived on Monday, April 13, donned gloves, grabbed plastic trash bags and prepared to go outside and get dirty. The whole school went out in the morning for 30 minutes and worked in groups on various outdoor sections.
“On Earth Day, we went outside and picked up trash on the playground,” said second-grader River Bennett. “School teaches us that it’s important to keep our earth clean to keep it alive.” He credited his education on earth health to Ms. Aronian.
This year’s hands-on work gave the students a chance to see immediate results in the conditions around them. While many of the students read out about Earth Day, and completed projects in their rooms, the clean-up experience enabled them to see how they helped the earth, and allowed them to give back directly to the residents in the neighborhood and added a personal touch.
“Student council takes over projects of student engagement and educating our school during our all school assemblies,” Principal Nicolette Foundas said. “In the past, we’ve done an Earth Day bingo for students to do at home with their caregivers, and students have presented about the value of composting and recycling.”
Happy Hollow students reinforced their classroom learning about Earth Day with this real-life litter collecting project. Foundas reported that students felt pleased and proud after cleaning up. They hope that this trend will continue in future years as a way to celebrate Earth Day and take care of their school and community.
“The kids loved it and were proud of themselves,” she said. “They were also very reflective as to realizing how much trash there was, and they began to brainstorm things they should do to be more responsible for their trash.”
