Schools

Whitemarsh Elementary Students Teach Older Kids About Upcycling

Thanks to a Scholastic grant, students will be helping to sort lunch waste in the 4-5 school, as is done at Whitemarsh Elementary.

 

While Whitemarsh Elementary kindergarten and life skills students have a lot of learning ahead of them, on April 25, they taught the fifth graders of Colonial Elementary a thing or two about their upcycling program.

Whitemarsh Elementary students currently sort their trash after lunch at the school's eco station, and the kindergarten and life skills classes spend time every Tuesday sorting non-recyclables, such as Lunchable containers, Capri Sun pouches, granola bars and chip bags, and prepare them to be sent to be upcycled at Terracycle, which converts the products into lunch totes, duffel bags, and much more.

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Life Skills Teacher Stephanie Brennan and Kindergarten Teacher Kirsten Young brought the program to Whitemarsh Elementary three years ago, and say that it has been helpful for their classes to take a leadership role in this project, and in the school.

"They take so much pride in knowing that they're a part of something," said Young.

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The project has been particularly valuable in helping the life skills students to be more engaged in the school.

"This gives the kids life skills kids a chance to be leaders, and they don't get that often," said Brennan.

The students were able to meet - with a special visit from Clifford the Big Red Dog - thanks to a $1,000 Scholastic grand that allowed Whitemarsh Elementary to "pay it forward" to Colonial by purchasing supplies for the program.

The Colonial Elementary students learned about packing, sorting wrappers and bottles, creating instruction posters, and more.

"You're going to become experts so you can have this at your school," Brennan and Young told the older kids.


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