Students at Walker Charter Academy are collecting used plastic bags to be made into sleeping mats for the homeless. The drive behind this project started with Achievement and Behavior Specialist Christa Schwarz and is being used to teach students from kindergarten through eighth grade about two major issues in the country: caring for the earth and the homeless.
Walker students show their collection box for plastic bags.
“We’re not just teaching academics, we’re teaching Moral Focus, and we’re teaching them to be part of society and to better society,” Schwarz said.” That’s what we want, we want to teach the kids about empathy.”
Students have collected more than 3,000 plastic bags, which will be delivered to a West Michigan woman who weaves them into thick, waterproof mats to help improve the quality of life for Michigan’s homeless population.
“I think the younger kids understand they’re doing something for the earth, but the older kids definitely get it,” Schwarz said. “I love tackling projects where kids feel like they’re making a difference. I want to empower them to believe they can make a difference. Yes, we have a lot of problems in the world, and they’re big problems, but we can all do something about them, especially when we band together.”
Recycling sculptures made by Mountain View Academy students.
Nearly 1,200 miles away at Mountain View Academy in Colorado Springs, students are hard at work on a project blending creativity, personal expression, and recyclables. Art Teacher Layne Waters has challenged her kindergarten through seventh grade students to create sculptures but only from what they’ve discarded.
“I actually did this sculpture contest when I was in elementary school, and I remember it so vividly,” Waters said. “I'm hoping students will start to see things that normally get thrown away as new materials to make art with. I hope that inspires and rejuvenates them when they’re creating. It’s also been good for us all to learn more about what can and cannot be recycled.”
Students can use glue and paint to aid in their creative process but must focus on the daily use items they sort out for the recycle bin.
Recycling sculptures made by Mountain View Academy students.
“They've been talking about recycling a lot more since this project started,” she said. “My third through middle school students are constantly reminding their peers ‘don't put that in there, that can't be recycled’ or ‘not in the trash, throw that in the recycling bin!’ So that's been really cool just to hear all the chatter and the excitement around this, it's awesome.”
It’s creativity like that that has helped Walker outperform the local district for 13 years and has Mountain View outperforming the local district. Great job teaching scholars the importance of recycling! Great work schools!
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About Walker Charter Academy
Walker Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Walker, Mich., serving students in Young 5s through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes 99 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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