Saturation Point
The kids in my neighborhood seem to be average; they play outside, walk their dogs, participate in sports—but are they environmental heroes? It is hard to tell. Just like superman and other superheroes had secret identities, I think the kids in my neighborhood do as well. I am sure you are wondering why I believe this theory. It is because after looking through the schools that are part of the Earth Force program, I realized that some of the schools were right in my backyard, and some of the kids participating were my neighbors. Who would have known that “green” stewards were walking around right under my nose?
Projects that have been undertaken by local Tampa Bay schools include, reducing water pollution from run-off, bringing recycling to a community, addressing school air quality, making a school energy efficient and creating more pedestrian and bike friendly communities. These are just a few of the projects supported by Earth Force—there are many others to speak of, including a project that Melissa Sherwood’s Cypress Creek Elementary School class in Ruskin has been working on.
Ms. Sherwood’s class has been devoted to a community service project at Vance Vogel Park along the Bullfrog Creek watershed. They travel to the park every month to test water and clean up any debris that they find on the banks of the creek, making sure to keep the environment clean and prevent any wildlife from ingesting garbage.
“Students found a presence of high levels of phosphates, and after doing some research, they were able to determine the phosphate levels were probably normal because of all the phosphates that are naturally found in Florida’s soil,” stated Sherwood. Students noticed that there was graffiti on the walls and park benches while doing their water tests and expressed concern to Ms. Sherwood about the appearance of their environmental sanctuary.
Sherwood stated, “Our goal next month is to paint over all of the graffiti.” On top of that, the students are also creating an awareness exhibit for the state fair to help inform the public of the importance in protecting our watersheds.
If that wasn’t enough, these super-kids also produced a "Kid Talk" video to show on school mornings. “They wanted other kids to know they can make a difference too. The most important aspect of this project was to see the change in my students’ attitudes,” stated Sherwood.
Earth Force has a six-step process that schools follow to make sure their projects stay on track and that students learn as much as they can about making a difference in the community.
Earth Force Six-Step Process
1. Checking It Out – What strengths and problems or threats are present in your community?
2. Deciding What’s Wrong – What problem do you want to work on?
3. Sleuthing – What are people already doing about this problem?
4. Deciding What to Do – What can you do to bring about the change you want to see? What are your choices for making a sustainable difference with this problem or threat?
5. Taking Action – What steps will you take to carry out your strategy?
6. Looking Back and Ahead – How did everything go? What can be done next?
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Observer
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