Conserve
Reduce-Project 1
School-Wide Food Waste to Compost Program
Lead Teacher: Amy Umberger
Our entire DFES community composts all breakfast, lunch, and snack food waste. All milk cartons, paper towels, napkins, any food waste, paper containers and trays are separated from recycling and landfill items. Our food waste is placed in a SMART cart for compost hauling. We measure the mass of all food waste and include it with our Waste Stream Data compiled each month displayed in the cafeteria. We also set up a centrally located “Share Table”. Students can leave “unopened” food items at this location to be shared with other students who may be hungry. We use metal utensils when possible (spoons and forks were purchased with grant funds) and also “Tap and Stack” styrofoam trays when they are being used. At the beginning of the year, cafeteria waste stream trainings were given by Mr. Epting and Mrs. Umberger to every class. Mrs. Umberger also offered classroom composting lessons to new teachers, classes that had a good number of new students, and by teacher request. This included students sorting and classifying items that can be composted.
Landfill bucket helpers completed a training at the beginning of the school year by Mrs. Umberger. Students were then expected to lead their classrooms in the composting efforts in their own classrooms & the cafeteria. (Landfill Bucket Helpers). In May we have a plan to make a video using 3rd grade students for use at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year.
Reuse-Projects
Operation Bed Roll
Lead Teacher: Vanessa Gustafson
2nd graders collect used plastic bags and learn to make “plarn” for use later to make bedrolls for homeless in our SC communities. Collecting, creating, and measuring are an essential part of the student work in this project.
Students will make plarn during Earth Day week and will teach parents that come out to visit during that time. Students also include plarn making in many of their learning celebrations. In March we hosted a district-wide workshop on Plarn and Loom making so that other teachers could start these types of projects in their own schools.
Crayola ColorCycle Program
Lead Teacher: Mary Creech
Students set up collection stations around the school for old markers. Each month markers were collected, mass measured, then returned to Crayola. Crayola then turns these markers into clean fuel for vehicles and homes.
How Students will Teach Others: This project was emphasized in a first grade learning celebration at the beginning of the school year.
Shoe Recycling Challenge
Lead Teacher: Dalene Gibson
Students set up a collection station at school for old shoes in front of their classroom. Students created a hallway data chart for the number of shoes collected. Students set a goal of #300 shoes by the end of April.
This project was promoted by the students during their second grade learning celebration in October. All of Mrs. Gibson’s parents as well as Pre-K through 2nd graders here at DFES were invited. During Earth Day week students will count all of their shoes and classify them be their physical properties. Then they will be bound per KMB specifications.