H.O.P.E. members senior K.C. Alvey, sophomore Melissa Nazar, senior Pam Wegener, and sophomore Suzanne Tomitz at Homestead School with Kristen Thompson's kindergarten class. Members of the Help Our Planet Earth (H.O.P.E.) club at Garden City High School visited Homestead School this winter to present a pilot lesson about recycling to Kristen Thompson's kindergarten class. The lesson capped off Pollution Solutions: I Can Help, a science unit that Mrs. Thompson had recently completed with the class.

"H.O.P.E.'s visit was an extraordinary opportunity to help foster a sense of responsibility and environmental stewardship among the kindergartners," H.O.P.E. President Kathleen (K.C.) Alvey said.

Under the guidance of advisor and Social Studies teacher Rob Wiedenhoft, H.O.P.E. members spent several weeks before the visit designing a lesson plan about recycling. Four club members then visited Mrs. Thompson's class to present the lesson. The presentation began with a reading of The Lorax, the classic Dr. Seuss fable about the careless destruction of planet's resources.

Kindergarteners get started on their "go green" pamphlets with help from H.O.P.E. member Melissa Mazar. "The kindergartners were quick to grasp the environmental relevance of certain characters in the story, like the selfish Once-ler, whose factory requires the rampant consumption of truffula trees," Ms. Alvey said. "They understood that the more the Once-ler consumed and the more trees he cut down, the more polluted paradise became." The Lorax ends on a positive note, however, with the boy in the story receiving a "truffula" seed to plant.

A discussion about a home recycling survey the kindergartners had completed and an original skit with an anti-littering theme written and directed by H.O.P.E. member Caitlin Crowley followed the story. In the skit, a polluter reforms with the help of some friends.

The class then broke into small groups to create "go green" pamphlets. Finally, the kindergartners received the pamphlet Green Guide for Parents to take home and share with their families. Created by H.O.P.E., the guide contains practical, easy-to-do suggestions for promoting environmental stewardship in any household.

H.O.P.E. President K.C. Alvey helps a kindergartner refine an environmental theme of a "go green" pamphlet. "While the lesson we presented was geared to five- and six-year-olds, the message that our individual actions count is universal to all ages," Ms. Alvey said.

The idea for the pilot lesson grew out of a presentation Ms. Alvey made at a School Board meeting in June about the importance of improving recycling efforts at the High School. As a direct result of that presentation, bins for paper recycling were placed in every classroom and responsibility for maintenance of can and bottle recycling bins were formalized.

Homestead Principal Suzanne Viscovich, Ed.D., was at the June meeting. Aware of H.O.P.E.'s environmental mission, she contacted the club about creating a recycling lesson plan for the district's youngest students. Plans call for a similar lesson to be presented in more primary school classrooms this spring.

H.O.P.E. member Pam Wegener and a kindergartner use their gluing skills.

H.O.P.E. Advisor and Social Studies Teacher Rob Wiedenhoft helps a kindergartner put the finishing touches on a "go green" pamphlet.