Earth Day 2007 "Kids CAN Make a Difference" Program Benefits All

April 22 is Earth Day. This year, 410 students from nine schools in Houghton, Baraga, and Gogebic Counties are celebrating Earth Day by conducting twelve different projects that will benefit their schools, their communities, and the environment. 

The projects were submitted as part of the Seventh Annual Kids CAN Make A Difference Earth Day Program sponsored by the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics & Environmental Education with funding from the Michigan Tech Sustainable Futures Initiative and the Wege Foundation.
           
"Some schools have designed very creative projects this year. We are very excited to see so much enthusiasm among local youth and their teachers," says Joan Chadde, coordinator of the Kids CAN Make A Difference Earth Day Program. "The efforts of these students will impact thousands in the western Upper Peninsula."
           
Each group that registered for the Earth Day Program will receive a certificate in recognition of their accomplishments and a visit from Western U.P. Center staff where they will present their projects. Four groups will be selected to receive $300 awards to use towards an environmental education field trip for their class:
           
Here is a description of the twelve projects:

In Houghton County, the “most ambitious” award goes to Mrs. Melissa Schneiderhan and her fifth grade class at CLK Elementary. Schneiderhan’s class will be doing six different projects, roughly one per week, from Earth Day through the end of the school year. First the students researched environmental problems and identified air pollution, global warming, and too much garbage as key problems to address. Next, they brainstormed how they could both inform other students and take action to address these serious environmental concerns. The students have made posters to hang at school, are reading Earth Day messages over their school’s public address system, calculating their ecological footprint, conducting a clean up of Calumet’s historic downtown industrial core, having a waste-free lunch day and a walk-to-school week, and lastly, conducting a paper recycling drive. They’ll be busy!!

The 8th grade Houghton Middle School class taught by Sara Beiring, will be conducting the 2nd annual “Its Cool to Carpool” day to raise their own awareness and that of their parents and the community about the need to reduce use of fossil fuels and also protect air quality. Students, faculty and parents will be encouraged to share rides, walk, or bike to school for one week. They will compare the numbers of miles traveled during a typical week, to those traveled during the “test” week. Students will learn about the health dangers associated with vehicle emissions and climate concerns through this successful program! 

Mrs. Jambekar’s 5th grade class at Houghton Elementary School is performing a West Houghton neighborhood and park clean up and a year-long school recycling program. 

Bridge High School students and their teachers Cathy Hill and Betty Carlson have extensively studied the Huron Creek watershed.  Throughout the year, they compared the stream quality and watershed health of Cole’s Creek and Huron Creek. Students discovered that many human activities have impacted Huron Creek. The students wanted to inform the local community about ways to begin protecting and improving Huron Creek and its watershed, so they installed an informational sign at the Houghton Waterfront Park on April 18. Through this project, students learned the importance of protecting streams and watersheds to protect human health, maintain plant and animal biodiversity, and to make it a more attractive place for recreation.  

At Lake Linden-Hubbell Elementary Laura Rowe’s 5th grade class is writing letters to the Gazette encouraging residents to “Treat Our Earth Gently.”  Students will encourage community members to recycle, reduce, and reuse and will also make suggestions to plant trees and flowers around their communities.  As part of this project, they will make signs to raise awareness of Earth Day at their school, as well as perform skits with an “Earth Day” message for other classes at their school.

Kelly Wiegand, Lake Linden-Hubbell High School science teacher is working with students in grades 7, 8, and 10 to conduct a school-wide recycling program, and then transporting the items to the recycling center in Houghton.

A home-school student group in Calumet will be conducting a storm drain stenciling project in early May to inform city residents that whatever is poured down a storm drain will eventually find its way to a local river or Lake Superior.
 
In Baraga County, the 2nd grade classes at C.J. Sullivan Elementary in L’Anse are making Earth Day bags to be used at local supermarkets in order to remind residents of the importance of Earth Day and making environmentally-friendly choices.
           
In Gogebic County, Miss Kellett’s first and second grade class at Washington Elementary in Bessemer will be learning about “reduce, reuse, and recycling” wastes, by making planters from recycled milk cartons.

Teacher Gail Maki’s 2nd grade class at Washington Elementary is doing a project called “Litter Critters.”  Her students are reusing discarded items to make creative art.  Each student will name their critters and tell the whole class how it helps the Earth. 

Teacher Kathy Makela’s 5th grade class at Wakefield-Marinesco School will be decorating grocery bags with messages about Earth Day.  They will also conduct “Project Clean” at their school to pick up trash on their school grounds.

Students in Mary Toomey’s eighth grade science class will learn about invasive species and then teach the third grade students and their families in a series of presentations and fun hands-on games.

"These projects are excellent examples of how students can help make their communities better places to live.  We are pleased to see students’ and teachers’ commitment to caring for our schools, communities, and the environment!" added Joan Chadde, K-12 education and outreach program coordinator for the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics & Environmental Education. “Thousands of local people will benefit from the work of these students.”

“Kids CAN Make a Difference”
K-12 Earth Day 2007 Program
Help the Earth and Your Students’ MEAP Scores!!  

Schools, scouting groups, and community youth groups located in Houghton, Baraga, Keweenaw, Gogebic, and Ontonagon counties are invited to participate in the Seventh Annual Earth Day 2007 “Kids CAN Make A Difference” Program.

The goal of this program is for students to recognize that we all can make a difference by becoming more informed and by taking action in our local communities. See the program description flyer for how this program correlates to the Michigan Curriculum Framework.

This program is sponsored by the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Wege Foundation.

Features
• Our Earth Day Program is the Winner of the 2003 Michigan Association of School Boards Education Excellence Award!
• Our Earth Day Program Connects to the Michigan Curriculum Framework for Science & Social Studies!!

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Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics & Environmental Education
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI 49931-1295
Tel: 906-487-3341

Email:jchadde@mtu.edu

Website: http://www.wupcenter.mtu.edu/

May 18, 2007
© 2007
For Educational Use Only