Environmental Awareness Day

March 20, 2010

The day began with the arrival of the Eagle Church youth group (12 students) from Zionsville, Indiana.  They came to start set-up and meet with Jeff Jones,  Director of Education, Marion County Purdue Extension. He instructed them on the day’s activities, goals, and expectations. 

The group created their T-shirts to wear for the day.  Tasks were assigned, areas were set up, and signage was made.  
    Sixteen children from Edna Martin Center arrived by 10:00 AM.  They were registered and then gathered to begin the day.  A discussion, designed as a pretest, was conducted to determine what the children knew or didn’t know about recycling. Questions were asked that helped to define the difference between trash and recyclable materials. 

Instructions were given to the children about the collection of recyclable materials they would do.
    Each child was paired with a member of the youth group, given trash bags, and sent out within a block radius of the center to collect recyclables.  The purpose of the pairings was two-fold.  One was to ensure the safety of the younger children and second was for the older students to act as mentors and examples to the younger children.  The older students did and exceptional job and both sides thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  
    Upon returning to the center the children sorted their finds in different containers

marked glass, plastic, paper and cans in which the most material collected was glass. 

The materials were bagged to be taken to the Project School at 22nd and Yandes for recycling.  Lunch was the next order of events and held outside on the straw bales. Our neighborhood volunteer, Diane Ivey, helped in serving lunch and clean up. The children and volunteers ate turkey wraps, corn chips, apples/bananas, and water.
When the children finished their lunch they were directed to a variety of activities at different stations.

They rotated from one activity to the next until everyone had completed all activities.  At the first station the children created their own T-shirts and visors to take home. They wrote “Environmental Day” and their name on the shirt and then drew a picture of something that related to the day’s activities.  At another station they interacted with a display presented by Improving Kids Environment organization. The purpose of this display was to teach them about dangerous chemicals. Lead poisoning, pesticides, and chemical exposure were demonstrated through a matching activity. (Jodi Perras led this interactive activity)
In another activity the children planted seeds for the center’s garden.  They were given pots to fill with dirt, shown how to plant the seeds at the proper depth, and instructed on the importance of watering.  Peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, watermelon, and peas were planted and put under the grow lights. 

Denise Smith from the Brightwood Public Library read to each group a story called “The Twelve Days of Springtime- A School counting book by Deborah Lee Rose illustrated by Carey Armstrong-Ellis”.  Lastly, the children were taught about the importance of exercise. Delana Ivey showed the children some exercises they could do anywhere.

Everyone pitched in to clean up the different areas.  The older students led the younger students in the clean up effort demonstrating the importance of putting things away and cleaning up the property. The whole group met together for a final time for clos

ing remarks and a group picture.

For more activity pictures click here