STUDENTS TAKE NEXT STEP

MONSY ALVARADOE-mail: alvarado@northjersey.com
The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
04-30-2011
STUDENTS TAKE NEXT STEP
Byline: MONSY ALVARADOE-mail: alvarado@northjersey.com
Section: LOCAL
Type: News

LODI -- Students at Columbus Elementary School began recycling newspapers, moved on to plastic, and most recently crayons in their effort to help the environment.

Now, the youngsters in the K-5 school will be able to plant seeds and watch flowers and plants grow in their very own greenhouse, which was erected this week in their schoolyard.
"We've been recycling and going green for the past four years, and it seemed like the next step," said ESL teacher Jennifer Costello, who spearheaded efforts to bring the greenhouse to the school.

The 24-by-12 greenhouse cost about $9,000 and was paid for with grants and fund-raisers over the past two years, school officials said.

Principal Vincent Di Chiara said Costello and other staff members have organized after-school activities for students and dinner and show nights for parents as a way to bring in money.

Costello said the goal is to have teachers conduct some of their science classes in the greenhouse. She said kindergarten teachers have already expressed interest in planting flowers that will attract butterflies, first-graders may learn about tadpoles, and the older children will learn about plants and root growth.

"Teachers will make a wish list for things they need for their science classes," Costello said.

The greenhouse will also be used by the schools Eco-5 Club -- an organization begun in September consisting of fifth-graders whose goal is to teach younger students about what they can do to take care of the Earth. Costello, the club's adviser, said 28 out of 40 fifth-graders are members.

Eleven-year-olds Hazelle Ferrer and Jake Balvin, Eco-5 Club participants, said they cannot wait to use the house. Hazelle said it would be a good place to teach others about plants, while Jake said he looked forward to seeing other living things in the greenhouse.

"Bugs and animals that the plants might bring," he said.

The school has made recycling a part of everyday lessons, Di Chiara said. Students in kindergarten have been taught to separate plastics. This year, school officials placed bins for students to discard their potato chip bags and juice pouches. The school will receive 2 cents for each item it recycles, Di Chiara said.

"It's not just about reading and math, it's about teaching them about the community, and recycling and keeping the Earth intact," he said. "We want them to separate waste so we can recycle and reuse."

Costello described herself as an environmentalist dating back to her oldest son's middle school years. At the time, an environmental lesson her son was learning at school prompted her to make changes herself.

Two years ago, Costello and her husband, who live in Hawthorne, placed solar panels on their back porch as a way to heat their pool. And unlike some of their neighbors and officials in her town, she said the solar panels popping up on utility poles in her neighborhood are great.

"We have them all over our town, and I couldn't be happier," she said. "I love them, it doesn't even bother me."

The teacher said she already is thinking about her next project: a large composter that she found on the Internet that can convert banana peels and other food waste into dirt in a few days.

"I'm not stopping," she said. "It's going to keep going."

2011