By Morgan Freese | Education Coordinator
Our Earth Keepers program teaches more than information about the natural world—it teaches our kids to have a positive impact in their community.
For the Winter session service day, the Earth Keepers did a big trash clean-up in the forest behind their school. We played “Trash Bingo” to inspire them to look for all kinds of waste, and even though the activity was only planned to last half the day, the kids’ passion for trashin’ could not be denied. We removed several pounds of waste from the woods and creek, from an abandoned soccer cleat to tiny shreds of plastic snack wrappings. We saved some things from the trash bin, too—when one group discovered a partly-deflated dodgeball, Sophie shouted, “Hey! That’s the one my class lost!” She returned it to her classroom before we left for the day.
It wasn’t just the excitement of running around on a trash-hunting quest that had the students so focused. At the end of the day, they expressed how sad they were to find so much litter in the forest they love. “What do you think you can do to fix it?” I asked, and I was amazed at the responses. We all took a pinky pledge to live up to three of the suggestions the kids made: we wouldn’t litter, we would keep picking up trash that we found, and we would teach other people why they shouldn’t litter.
The spirit of service demonstrated by the Earth Keepers on our clean-up day hasn’t been forgotten. Instead, I’ve seen it grown in the weeks that followed. Students like Lucia have begun to come up to me regularly with lost wrappers or abandoned bottles, even though I haven’t specifically reminded them of their pledge to make their community more sustainable. “Picking up trash makes me happy,” she said proudly. “It’s important to take care of the Earth.”
Mehreen took the spirit of service even further. “When I grow up, I want to start a nature museum,” she declared. “Then I can teach everybody about nature!”
Every time one Earth Keeper shows their dedication to improving their school and community, all of them take notice. Your generous support allows these children to spend time in a community where each person is dedicated to a better, more sustainable world. Because of your contributions, these kids are inspired to action every week, and are truly learning to live up to the Earth Keeper name!
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