Text by Greg Densmore, editor of the Leader
Volume 55, April 30, 2009, Number 27

The signs lined the hallways of Stevens Elementary School, showing everyone that these students were serious about Earth Day and what it stands for. Crafted from newspapers with hand-drawn maps of the world on them, the sign implored students to ''Reduce,'' Reuse'' and "Recycle'' because ''the Earth is in our hands''.

This year was Stevens' first foray into Earth Day celabration and the students clearly enjoyed themselves as they spent three school days learning all about recycling and then taking part in a schoolwide recycling project themselves.

Kindergarten teachers Cynthia Richardson, Troy Thomas, and Delores Canales put together the recycling project, with an assist from art teacher Matthew Juarez and science lab teacher Deirdre Ricketts.

"We have some amazing teachers here who took this idea and ran it,'' said Stevens Principal Lucy Anderson. "And the kids got really jazzed about it." The kindergarten classes took lead in the recycling project while the older students were involved in taking the TAKS exams, said Richardson.

As part of the Earth Day celebration, a huge appliance box was transformed into a recycling bin and placed in the front hall where students could place their the used plastic bottles, aluminum cans and other recyclable materials. Other smaller boxes were also placed at different sites around Stevens for easier deposit of recyclables.

Class plans were drawn around Earth Day, said Richardson, with art and science projects following in the same vein.

"We gave our kids fun facts, such as recycling one can powers one television set for three hours, or recycling 16 plastic bottles can produce enough fiber to fill one ski jacket," she said. ''Then we asked them to guess how many hours of television we could provide and how many ski jackets could be filled with our recycled stuff.''

When the recycling bins were full, they were transported to the playground, where the kindergarten students -- all wearing latex gloves for safety -- were waiting. After Richardson and Thomas dumped the contents on the ground, with Richardson quipping they were ''trash pinatas,'' the little ones, in groups of five, seperated the trash into seperate piles of plastic and aluminum. The students attacked the trash with gusto screaming and laughing as they ran to gather up the cans and plastic bottles and tote them to their respective piles.

All the materials collected by the Stevens students will be sold to a recycler, and the money used purchase plants that will be donated to The Hampton at Pinegate.