Clear Spring Elementary holds B-Earth-day party for the planet

May 19, 2008|By JANET HEIM

CLEAR SPRING - In January, it was announced that the goal of Clear Spring Elementary School was to become a "Green School." Now, efforts are under way to make that a reality.

This year will be the planning year and next year will be the implementation of the plan, said Principal Amy Norris.

To show the school's commitment to the environment, this year's Earth Day celebration on April 22 was a showstopper. A B-Earth-day party for the earth was emceed by "Recycle Roy," enrichment teacher W.T. Fleming.

The assembly included:

A recycling relay of six teams to determine who could sort recyclable and nonrecyclable items the fastest.

A recycling event in which teacher teams were challenged to make a creation from a box of unusual items (the challenge was judged by fifth-grade students on creativity, teamwork and use of materials)

Presentation of B-Earth-day gifts - a packet of seeds for each student from the prekindergarten, kindergarten and first-grade classes; trash cans to decorate for recycling plastic bottles from second-graders; trash bags to collect trash on the school grounds from the third grade; can crushers from the fourth grade; and three redbud trees donated by Maryland Cooperative Extension Agency presented by fifth-grade students.

Results of several student recycling challenges were provided and students made a pledge to the environment.

Two weeks prior to Earth Day, the school had a plastic bag challenge to see how many plastic bags could be collected and recycled. The students took in more than 6,500 bags.

Students were asked to complete a household recycling graph to chart their family's recycling efforts for two weeks. Then to demonstrate how much paper is recycled in the school, a paper ball was created with one day's worth of recycled paper - totaling 50 pounds.

Finally, students had their lunch trash weighed for the two school days prior to Earth Day. After the first weight was recorded, students were challenged to reduce their lunch trash and every class succeeded. The fifth grade was recognized for cutting its trash in half.

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