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School Category
<br />elStudents Inspire Entire
<br />Community
<br />By Kathy Flint and Martha Kesler
<br />0 ne hundred sixty-five students
<br />at Divide Elementary in rural
<br />Lookout, WV, are committed to
<br />making an environmental difference in
<br />their part of the world. In 1995, the WEE
<br />CAN Make a Difference Club, a unique
<br />school -based recycling program, was
<br />organized. This program has evolved
<br />into a comprehensive environmental
<br />outreach program.
<br />Activities sponsored by the WEE
<br />CAN Club have instilled environmen-
<br />tally sound life skills and a love for the
<br />earth in the entire community. Annual
<br />community spring cleanups, yearly
<br />auctions of used goods, and litter con -
<br />trol projects have created a strong part-
<br />nership among the school, families,
<br />community, businesses, and county
<br />govemment.
<br />•
<br />Logo for
<br />the WEE
<br />CAN
<br />Club of
<br />Divide
<br />Elementary
<br />School.
<br />School -based Recycling
<br />Program
<br />Each year, students are challenged to
<br />save 100 pounds of aluminum cans at
<br />home. Cans are brought to the school
<br />once a month on Faculty Senate Day,
<br />when school is not in session. Parent
<br />volunteers weigh, record totals, and
<br />load the cans onto trucks. Then the
<br />local sanitation company transports
<br />the cans to a nearby recycling center.
<br />At each monthly collection, all recy-
<br />clers are rewarded for their efforts.
<br />Novelties, prizes, and visits from such
<br />•famous personalities as Santa Claus,
<br />the Easter Bunny, and Halli the Clown
<br />boost enthusiasm. In addition, special
<br />prizes can be earned by top recyclers.
<br />At the end of the school year, any re-
<br />cycler who has saved more than 100
<br />3 1
<br />pounds gets a cash reward. Televisions,
<br />CD players, bicycles, and even a com-
<br />puter system are just a few examples
<br />of prizes earned by these young envi-
<br />ronmentalists.
<br />Used Goods Auction
<br />In March, the WEE CAN Club sponsors
<br />an auction of used goods. Parents, rela-
<br />tives, friends, neighbors, and business-
<br />es are all asked to donate unwanted
<br />items that are still in working condition
<br />to our used -goods auction. Everything
<br />from clothing to household appliances
<br />to toys is donated, and every last item
<br />sold. Were it not for this special sale,
<br />many of these items would end up in
<br />the landfill or possibly littering our
<br />beautiful mountain state.
<br />Spring Cleanup
<br />In April, the WEE CAN Club —in con -
<br />junction with the Solid Waste Authority,
<br />the Department of Environmental Pro-
<br />tection, Preventive Pollution Open
<br />Dumps (P -POD), and the West Virginia
<br />Division of Highways — sponsors a two-
<br />day free community cleanup at the
<br />local State Road Garage. The event is
<br />publicized by radio and newspaper.
<br />This campaign encourages residents to
<br />properly dispose of white goods,
<br />metal, and aluminum.
<br />Parent volunteers and members
<br />from the Solid Waste Authority work
<br />cooperatively throughout the cleanup,
<br />separating recyclable items from non -
<br />recyclables. Our Partner in Education,
<br />Meadow River Mines, provides a tractor -
<br />trailer truck to transport the recyclables
<br />to a recycling center. The Division of
<br />Highways hauls all nonrecyclables to
<br />the landfill for proper disposal.
<br />The Environmental Benefit
<br />As part of our program, students leam
<br />how important recycling aluminum is.
<br />Kids and parents work together
<br />on litter cleanup.
<br />Through monthly environmental edu-
<br />cation activities, students have teamed
<br />that litter is unsightly and unsafe and
<br />that it spoils the loveliness of our natural
<br />areas. Even preschool and kindergarten
<br />students have begun to practice basic
<br />litter control at school as "Sparklers?
<br />Sparklers keep their work area, the
<br />classroom, the hallways, and the play-
<br />ground sparkling clean through a contin-
<br />uous war on litter.
<br />Gathering Partners in Litter
<br />The project has corralled business part-
<br />ners. Meadow River Mine commis-
<br />sioned the older members of the local
<br />4 -H Club to clean up a three -mile
<br />stretch of rural road that the school and
<br />the mine both share. Several business-
<br />es collect cans for the school: Ansted
<br />Motors, Meadow River Mine, and
<br />Ansted Center Nursing Home. Dave's
<br />Sanitation volunteered transportation
<br />to the recycling center.
<br />Top Results Bring in Money
<br />In 1999, approximately 600,000 alu-
<br />minum cans were recycled by the WEE
<br />CAN Club. Students earned more than
<br />$6,000 from the sale of 20,000 pounds
<br />of aluminum cans, $1,400 from the sale
<br />of 68 tons of scrap metal, and $2,800
<br />from the sale of donated
<br />used goods. The Club also
<br />was credited with collecting
<br />almost 50 tons of trash, which
<br />was hauled to local landfills.
<br />This program found great
<br />support in the community.
<br />Aluminum
<br />can recy-
<br />cling and
<br />litter clean- z* "`
<br />up are two
<br />important components of
<br />Divide Elementary School's
<br />comprehensive environ-
<br />mental outreach program.
<br />NSDA's Preston Read
<br />presents the school with
<br />a first -place award.
<br />Kathy Flint & Martha Kesler,
<br />Divide Elementary WEE
<br />CAN Club, Lookout, WV.
<br />Tel. 304/574 -1443
<br />
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