Students at FE Miley Elementary School experienced hands-on instruction for Earth Day this week when they took part in a community cleanup effort organized by the teachers. Several weeks in advance, the Elementary School teachers planned the basics of the day and divided the eastern side of town into areas for each class to engage in clean up. The original plan was for the students to go out primarily in the afternoon, but high winds and the cold weather prompted a change in plans. The majority of the students went out before lunch, with a few of the older classes holding to the plan to engage in cleanup in the afternoon.
Cinda Pierson evaluated the effort: "By the look of the large black trash bags, it was very successful." The total volume of trash collected is a clear, concrete measure of the success of the day, but Mrs. Moore pointed out a less concrete metric for the success of the effort: "I think it's a wonderful service for the community. I'd like it to be less windy. It's a really good reference for when we talk about recycling or helping your community. You reference back to that and say 'Remember the time we cleaned up for the town cleanup?'" The general opinion of the teachers was that the students really enjoyed serving the community by cleaning up for Earth Day. Calista Worrall summed it up well when she proclaimed: "We had a ton of fun!"
Students I spoke with universally proclaimed their enjoyment of the outing to clean up trash. One first grader, Thea Merril, explained the morning outing: "We were helping the environment, and it was fun." She went on to say: "It's important to keep our planet safe... the pollution can hurt the animals and the planet." Abbey Sietsema also explained her experience of the cleanup day: "Earth day is important because we need the Earth to live. If we don't pick up trash and litter, our earth will start dying because it's dirty."
Other elements of the community outing sparked joy in the hearts of the children. Debbie Lavenger excitedly proclaimed how much fun the class had when they encountered goats during their clean-up outing. Her classmate, Autumn Witmer, explained that she enjoyed the day "Because it helps the Earth!" Though she was not shy in explaining how much she was looking forward to the ice cream bars all of the students were rewarded with for a job well done. Most of the classes also watched educational films related to Earth Day and the environment.
Mr. Parker summarized the day well: "I felt that they really understood that Earth Day is important.. that we live on the earth and that we need to take care of it. They really understood that and enjoyed picking up trash."
