I teach 3-year-olds and throughout the year stress how important nature is. After our Halloween jack-o-lantern is “finished,” we bury it behind the school building, together with a piece of construction paper and a cup or plate made of Styrofoam. We mark it with a flag that tells the date and who buried it. Then on or about Earth Day, we dig up what we buried. The children see how the pumpkin is now mostly liquid (usually with many earth worms in or near it), the paper is falling apart, but the Styrofoam remains as it was originally. We can then talk about and chart what happened to each of the items and why it is important to use earth-friendly materials and to recycle that which is not.

Fundraising for Wildlife
Jim Peterson of Auburndale Elementary School

The students at Auburndale Elementary School, in Auburndale, Wisconsin, were presented with a challenge in the fall of 2002. The nearby Mead Wildlife Area, a 22,000 acre state-run facility, was planning on building an environmental education center to serve schools from all around the area. The state was willing to put up half the money, but the rest had to be raised from private funds. The teachers challenged the students to raise $1,000 toward this goal.

Students started with a "Coins for Mead" campaign, collecting change in each classroom. The sixth grade classes chipped in by painting faces for Homecoming, charging 25 to 50 cents per face.

Within a month the students had surpassed the original goal and we set our sites higher, with a new goal of $2,500. There were candy sales, bird-feeder sales, a carnival, a garage sale, and many other activities.

On Earth Day, the students will present a check to the project manager for almost $3,000! Starting next year our students will be able to visit the center and will be among the first students to utilize this facility which will be providing lessons in environmental responsibility for many years to come.

The Enchanted Forest
Janet Fawley of Logansport, Indiana

Earth Day here in Logansport Indiana, includes an "Enchanted Forest" for all the Cass County 3rd Graders.

First, the students come to the high school for a short presentation from the "Earth Protectors," a theatrical group that helps to teach kids "Reduce, Recycle, Rethink, Reuse."

Then we use the high school's outdoor education area to create the "Enchanted Forest." The Enchanted Forest is where native species of animals come to life to teach the kids about their habitat, food, families, predators, and how man has affected their lives.

High School students from the local ecology club are the ones to put on full costumes of these native species and learn in-depth all about those species.

It's our second year, and we're very pleased with the results. Teachers and students are very impressed with the program and walk away with an experience that they don't forget.

Trees in Honor of Earth
Cassandra and students of Gayman Elementary, Danboro, PA

On Friday, April 20th we are planting 5 new trees. Mrs. Formica, my kindergarten teacher helped us to collect pocket change from the students and teachers at our school. We collected $609.00. We are having a special planting ceremony with songs and poems in honor of Earth Day. I just thought you would like to know what we are doing to help the earth.

Invite Community Speakers
Mrs. Greene, Pleasant Plains Middle School

At Pleasant Plains Middle School, we have come up with any easy way to help bring the point home. Last year and this year, we have brought in representatives from some county and state agencies to give presentations for our 6th graders.

For example, this year, we have representatives from our local Soil and Water Conservation District, Illinois Dept of Natural Resources, and Environmental Protection Agency. Each will present a short (20 min) handon presentation to our students. They will each be in a different classroom. We have four classes of 6th graders. Each class will rotate through the exhibits. This is great in many ways. They hear it from the experts. It keeps the students moving. Once we get the speakers lined up, there is only supervisory work for the teachers. We have chosen to hold this on the Friday afternoon before EarthDay. What a great way to end up a week. Everyone loves it.

Spreading the Word
Renee Lynne Naden of Jackson, NJ

When Renee Lynne Naden of Jackson, N.J., noticed that her school wasn't recycling plastic and glass, she discussed the situation with her principal. After contacting the public works department, Renee organized a campaign to inform the Christa McAuliffe Middle School students about recycling during their lunch periods.

She also started an Eco-Action Club to beautify the courtyard at the school. The members of the club and other interested students, Doan, Justin, Colleen, James, Megan, Hayden, and others read The Giving Tree to over 250 5th graders and gave each one a baby spruce tree to plant for EARTH DAY. The 8th graders aopted over 300 fir trees that needed to be planted. Her original idea blossomed and involved a whole school of over a 1000 students. The school paper put out an ecological edition with all sorts of EARTH DAY activities, too.

Renee plans to make presentations to 150 Kindergartners in the next few weeks and give each child a spruce tree to plant, too. Many thanks to The Forest Resource Center in Jackson for donating over 700 trees.

Recycling
by Crystle Reynolds, 8 years old

My name is Crystle Reynolds, I am 8 years old. My mom owns a Daycare, we all help her to save aluminum cans, plastic bottles, card board, and news paper. When the weather is nice, we take a feild trip behind our school, down at Deep Creek, and at parks to collect these things. We take them to the recycling place and get money back to add more arts and crafts to the daycare. That is our way to help keep the earth clean

Each One Teach One
Patricia Hensche, Gurnee Illinois

The Warren Hotshots 4-H Club (15 members) recognized that youth have a great ability to teach other youth. We have learned by doing and we saw the need for "each one to teach one." Our community has experienced exponential growth over the last several years. Vast amounts of plant and wildlife habitat have been lost to new developments and neighborhoods. We have noticed an increase in the amount of trash we have to collect in our biannual highway cleanups. We believed we could teach newcomers and others to care about the environment and our community through presentations, games, and interactive activities at Earth Fairs and workshops, one student at a time. We also recognized that our efforts needed to be expanded beyond our own neighborhoods and sought to reach youth and adults beyond our community borders.

Members planned and made interactive games that highlighted different environmental areas. Some of these included Urban & Backyard Wildlife Habitats, Birds, Insects, Fish, and Endangered Species. Members had four tables of activities at The Field Museum (Chicago, IL) for It.s Wild In Chicago 2000! and another four tables at the Volo Bog State Natural Area.s Ecofest. At Volo Bog we put on two performances of our original play that encourages everyone to keep cats indoors to protect wildlife. We decided to reach people where they shop by having these interactive stations at Bass Pro Shops in Gurnee Mills shopping center and at the Wild Bird Center in a strip mall. We also decided to celebrate Earth Day in our classrooms by bringing activities to our classmates and encouraging them to take care of the earth. One member chose to represent the club at Yes! In My Backyard! Youth Symposium at the Field Museum with two presentation/workshops on Backyard Wildlife and Prairies. Two other members had a display and program at a local post office to introduce the new insect stamps. We also wanted to serve as role models to other youth. We wanted them to see our words in action so we continued with twice a year highway cleanups.

We reached over 1200 persons of all ages on a one to one basis and another 800 through passive displays.

Pledge to Mother Earth
Nancy Sampson, Warren, PA

I have been in education since the first Earth Day when we went out and cleaned one block of our school's neighborhood. This year on the thirty year anniversary I will be sharing a special book with the three hundred students of our school. The book is by Schimmel and describes how Mother Earth reminds children just how much all the creatures on it are loved by her. Each student will be asked to draw their favorite earth feature, plant or animal. Then they will write a letter to Mother Earth, pledging to do one special activity to help her. Then all three hundred students will sign a special poster to be displayed in our school to seal this pledge. Three hundred small things should make a difference, especially when children encourage their parents to get into the act!!

Outdoor Classroom
Amy Grimes, Truman Elementary, Webb City, Missouri

On Friday, April 21, 2000, the students of Harry S Truman Elementary, Webb City, MO will be working outside to build an outdoor classroom. The principal, students, and teachers will be planting trees, spreading mulch, etc. This is just the beginning of our future outdoor classroom. Over the next couple of years, future students of the school will be adding to our outdoor classroom. We will be adding prairie grass, a log cabin, walking trails, and providing shelter for animals. With the help of a conservationist, we are trying to provide a place that will benefit both the environment and the students. Because of this outdoor classroom, the students will be able to experience firsthand the things they learn from their textbooks.

Environmental Youth Congress
Rachel Crist, student

My name is Rachel Crist. I am sixteen years old and attend St. Augustine High School. I have an interests and concerns in the environment. At my school I am the Vice President of the Conservation Club. One of our projects for the year was putting on an Environmental Youth Congress (EYC) at Princess Place Preserve. We had help from the Rotary Club and their member Mr. Bill Hamilton. The purpose of the EYC was for the youth to be able to have a dialouge with leaders of the community about our concerns bout Earth. There were representatives from the Water Management Co., Forest Rangers Assocation, Landscapers, and other leaders. Our Conservation Club had six speakers who had ten minutes each to speak and there were seven leaders who also had ten minutes each. We made flyers and had a good turn out. I was one of the speakers. My topic was about natural resources and the rate that we are consuming them. Everything went well except for an uncontrolable rain delay! For my speech at the EYC I have been asked to attend a four day leadership workshop at Flager College during the summer. It will be paid for by the Rotary Club. I am very thankful that I was able to voice my opinions about he concerns I have about the environment. It effects us all and its conditions must be considered now to improve the future. I hope that more kids my age voice their opinions, everyone has the right to.

Creating Wildlife Habitats
Judith Millar, 4th grade teacher,
Lucy Holman School, Jackson, NJ

More than five years ago, I began an environmental project in the school's courtyard. It has become quite an undertaking--even gaining state recognition. It contains several habitat areas, including a Bird Sanctuary, a Hummingbird/ Butterfly Garden, A Woodland Area with a pond, and a Meadow. My classes have always overseen the care of this "Outdoor Classroom", but now it's practically a full time job!! My students currently maintain the Bird Sanctuary--filling seed and suet feeders, filling the birdbaths, building birdhouses, even supplying nesting materials! In addition, this spring they will be a major force in the clean up and replanting process. They always have energy and enthusiasm for anything to do with "their garden". Throughout the year, they've been involved in numerous environmental activities--in April they'll be running an Arbor Day Program in which they'll read and teach younger students the value of trees.

This group has worked very hard to benefit wildlife and to spread the message of responsibility for the environment to the rest of the school. Thank you for asking me to brag about them!!

Jump Start Recycling