“I don’t really know anything we shouldn’t recycle,” Erickson said. “But, I kind of think we’re just doing a good deed right now and helping the Earth.”
Erickson is a student in Brenna Bermel’s third grade class at Centennial Elementary School. Recently, the class read a story on Scholastic News about a Crayola program called Color Cycle. The program collects dried markers so they can be recycled.
“I think it’s a good idea, because we’re just preventing it from going to landfills so they don’t have to rot,” said classmate Keiria Kinnan.
Bermel’s class has distributed white collection boxes in classrooms across their school and around the whole Centennial School District.
“The kids got really excited about (the story),” said Bermel, who is in her fourth year teaching at the school. She said this kind of activity helps instill “a sense of community, a sense of ‘I can do something bigger than a worksheet. I can do something bigger than this classroom.’ It’s creating a sense of purpose.'”
And the students all feel like they’re helping other kids learn.
“They’re kind of staking their claim here at Centennial Elementary School as well,” said Bermel.
