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5th Grader's Project Earth unit and the Upper School Environmental Club are mobilizing our community to be guardians of this globe we call home.
It's a very green March at ICSB, not just because that's our school color, or because St. Patrick's Day falls on the 17th, plants are starting to bloom, or because March is just so inexperienced. This March is green because, between our 5th Grader's Project Earth Unit and the Upper School Environmental Club's projects, much is happening in our community to pick up around town and preserve our planet.
5th Grade Project Earth in Action
Earlier this month, as a part of their Project Earth unit, our 5th-grade class flooded the streets of Diósd on the hunt for trash. Led by their 5th-grade teacher, Ms. Anabella Alquisola, with garbage bags in hand and masks on their faces for protection, they journeyed across the town, picking up any litter they came across. Thus, with bags full of rubbish and lungs full of fresh air, they returned from their adventure, leaving the streets of Diósd cleaner than they found them.
In addition to this hands-on experience of their Diósd clean-up, they also researched a variety of environmentalist topics. They presented their findings to other teachers and fellow students of all ages. Presentation topics ranged from deforestation to endangered animals, pollution, and ocean damage.
The 5th graders did their due diligence researching and presenting. Their talking points and visual aids provoked terrific, deep conversations about being Global Citizens and Faithful Stewards of the planet God gave us to cultivate and protect. Several students expressed deep thoughts and intense feelings on the matter. Some students even voluntarily made posters raising awareness about endangered animals during their Fabulous Friday time. One of the teachers who visited with her class was first-grade teacher Ms. Hannah Hokutt, who was deeply moved by what she saw being stirred up in these students.
I love the heart these kids already have for caring for their world, and I love that this will feed a desire as they grow older to continue being global citizens and faithful stewards of our planet!
Ms. Hannah Hocutt. First Grade Teacher.
Upper School Environmental Club
5th Graders are not the only students at the school advocating for our planet. This school year marks the start of ICSB's Upper School environmental club, led and founded by Bernice S. Bernice was inspired by her family and what she saw on social media to start this club. Her father works on the development of electric vehicles. This made her want to make her own mark on positively impacting the environment. She also closely follows discussions and happenings around the subject in her home country of South Korea. This stirred her to do something about it here in Diósd. She aims to raise awareness about how the smallest of actions can significantly impact our community and planet.
The environmental club has eight members, who meet twice a month, but many more students join in for events. Bernice would love to meet more often, but being a senior herself, her time is limited, as is that of other members. Still, they make time to meet regularly and organize and mobilize people to join their environmental projects. So far this year, they have cleaned up leaves around Diósd, picked up trash outside the school fence and in the gutters on the side of the road, made posters to raise awareness and encouraged the recycling of bottles. They also educate themselves on various environmental issues, watching trash and air pollution documentaries, etc.
The air we breathe, the food we eat —whatever we do is related to the environment. [...] Small gestures make a grand impact.
-Bernice S. Environmental Club Founder and Leader.
Bernice and her club mates are on a mission to remind us that simple changes in our daily lives can help protect our planet. She wants club members to know that the time they spent dedicated to helping protect the environment was valuable. Their work to reduce waste was no waste of time. She is grateful for their contribution and hopes they continue the work next year. As she graduates and moves on to find other ways to raise awareness in her next season of life, she hopes the club will continue, and many more people will join.
By stepping out into the community, both the 5th graders and the Upper School environmental club are living out what it means to be Global Citizens, Christ followers, and Faithful Stewards - three of our Expected Student Outcomes - by showing love and responsibility for the world around them. We might not be Starlord from the Marvel comics, charged with guarding a whole galaxy, but let's honor our Lord by protecting and preserving the planet he put under our stewardship.
