Students at Cottage Lane Elementary School are finding creative ways to raise awareness about the importance of recycling and composting! Following the one-year anniversary of successfully implementing the first food scraps composting program with the Green Schools of Rockland County, fifth graders in CLE teacher Anne O’Brien’s class have been working on creating recycling videos that will be shared with fellow students and the entire CLE community.
Over the last couple of weeks, students have been working in groups to write, produce and direct videos on topics including composting, how to use the water bottle fillers at CLE, how to sort trash and recycling within the classroom, how to pack an eco-friendly lunch and methane gas prevention. “The goal is to share these videos with students at CLE to bring more knowledge within the school building of how to properly dispose of food scraps, recyclable materials and trash. We hope they use this information to continue these habits at home and in their community,” said CLE Assistant Principal Rob Schliessman, Ed.D.
Leading up to their video shoot, student director Aristea G. had her group run through their skit which features a tutorial of how to properly use the paper, trash and recycling bins that can be found in every CLE classroom. “Our video is focusing on recycling in the classroom because it’s unhealthy for the environment to put your waste in the wrong bins. Some materials don’t break down correctly when you put them in the wrong recycling bin or garbage can,” said Aristea.
Each group filmed their videos with the help of the student directors, Schliessman and Rockland Green Educator and Outreach Coordinator Jennifer Sheridan, who runs the monthly Trash Troopers meetings.
