Winds of change

I was walking to school on a beautiful spring day not long ago, pondering the brand new recycling scheme that a fellow parent at our school was just starting up (coop.ge). Up until now, recycling for the general public has not been available in Georgia (I try to keep things positive on here, but the truth is, waste management is a big problem). I thought it would be great to establish a drop off point at the school as soon as possible, but going through the proper channels was likely to be plagued with delays and concerns.

Then the fresh spring air gifted me with an "aha" moment: Wasn't Earth Day coming up? I could raise awareness; start a whole new unit on cleaning up the earth, like, that day; take the kids out to clean up around the school grounds; and plan a fundraiser to purchase the three bins needed to get started. And that's how it happened.

The 3-day bake sale was so fabulously successful that we made more than enough, so now we can plant a few new trees on the school grounds as well. What a thrill to be a part of a turning point: teaching Earth stewardship and recycling to a largely uninformed audience, presenting the children with a challenge, and implementing a solution. Certainly will stand as one of the highlights of my teaching experience.