Earth Day: North students going green
NORTH – Dover Elementary School is emerging as a champion for the environment by recycling paper and working to make parents and students more environmentally conscious.
Fifth-graders Madison Chavis and Chanel Smith are taking the green lessons to heart.
Chavis thinks the school’s efforts are important because she loves animals. Chavis doesn’t want to see global warming harm the environment.
“It’s important to me because I don’t like to see people litter,” Smith said.
Chavis and Smith are recycling troopers, a group of hand-picked fifth-grade students who collect recycled paper from Dover’s classrooms.
“They think it’s cool,” said Principal Cynthia Strozier.
Last month, Dover was recognized as a Champion of the Environment Merit Award winner by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The school is trying to get parents to go green as well.
Parents and bus drivers are encouraged to not leave their vehicles running idle in the parking lot. Strozier says that reduces harmful emissions and prevents children from breathing in the fumes while waiting to be picked up from school. She estimates a child could breathe exhaust fumes for 10 hours a month at school due to cars idly running.
“On a little body, that can have devastating effects,” she said.
At the entrance of Dover, there is a sign stating “Don’t Idle.”
Pamphlets detailing how parents can recycle oil are also being distributed.
Kindergarten teacher Jennifer Fanning spearheaded the school’s green movement.
Her class is recycling old crayons using candy molds.
“That teaches students that you don’t have to waste things. You can reuse them,” Fanning said.
The crayon activity is just part of SCDHEC’s “Action in the Classroom” curriculum the school has adopted.
The lessons range from conserving energy to making compost, Fanning said.
Starting out, Fanning submitted an advertisement on the Web site donorschoose.org, asking for help in starting a recycling effort. The Web site allows potential donors to contribute to a particular school or project they deem worthy.
The advertisement caught the eye of Jones New York, a high-end women’s clothing line. The company donated $3,700 to Dover, which Fanning credits with kick-starting the effort. Overall, the school has received over $6,000 in grant funding from Jones New York and SCDHEC.
That money allowed Dover to purchase a recycling dumpster and bins. In addition, the school established a special section on the environment in its library.
Fanning says students are also in the process of planting a garden using recycled compost in the back of the school. Two trees have also been planted near that location, too.
In suitable weather, teachers have the options of giving lessons at an outdoor classroom. Fanning said that unique setting gives students a chance to truly appreciate the environment.
For Smith, the appreciation is already there. She wants to start recycling everyone she can.
“I don’t want to see my country or my town dirty,” Smith said.
Via TheTandD.com
T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached by e-mail at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1050
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