Hunter Students Recycle Their Way onto the Times Square Jumbotron
May 12, 2010 - A team of Hunter Magnet Elementary students have earned second place in the national Siemens “We Can Change the World” Elementary School Challenge. Teacher Assistant Smith Raynor has led her team of kindergarten to second grade students, known as the Hunter EcoHeroes to be featured on the Jumbotron in Times Square in New York City.
The EcoHeroes found out from their cafeteria manager that their cafeteria produces about a dumpster-full of trash every 2-3 days. They decided to focus their project on reducing waste in the cafeteria and changing wasteful behavior. In order to measure whether their strategy made an impact, students collected data before and after they implemented their waste reduction strategy. They raised awareness of the amount of waste produced in the cafeteria by creating posters and sharing strategies for reduction. Every day for a week, everyone who packed a lunch packed up all leftovers to show their parents how much was being wasted. Hunter has seen a surge of reusable containers and water bottles as a result of the EcoHeroes’ efforts. They also added additional recycling bins to help make recycling a habit in the school and asked the Principal to include something in his newsletter to parents asking them to pack recycle lunches. From the project they realized students want to help the environment by recycling, they just need the right tools to do it!
The Hunter EcoHeroes earned for their school:
- an on-site school assembly
- a $3,000 grant for the school
- an opportunity to be featured on a Jumbotron in Times Square in New York City
- a Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge green prize
- a banner for the school
- and Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge temporary tattoos
Teacher assistant Smith Raynor will receive:
- a chance to be a guest editor on treehugger.com
- free registration to the next NSTA National (or Area) Conference
- hotel accommodations for two nights at the conference
- a pocket video camera
- a one-year membership to NSTA
- and a 12-month subscription to Discovery Education Science Elementary version
The Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge gives students the opportunity, tools and inspiration to become agents of change in their community. In the event, elementary school classes were challenged to create sustainable, reproducible environmental improvements in their classroom or school.
You can read more about the challenge here.