April 22, 2009
Earth Week at the TCHS Service Learning Academy was celebrated with school and community partners to promote environmental issues and to teach how to use recycled materials.
Earth Week at the TCHS Service Learning Academy was celebrated with school and community partners to promote environmental issues and to teach how to use recycled materials.
The Service Learning Academy brought over 800 TCHS and OCPS student to the Enzian Theater where students saw environmental films from the Global Peace Film Festival. After each film students were engaged in question and answer sessions with filmmakers and environmental guest speakers. The films and speakers were the inspiration for service learning theme that students selected for the next school year - immigration and migrant farm workers issues.
Two former farm workers who worked in fields by Lake Apopka told how they were suffering from pesticide related illnesses after filmmakers shared a film about the issue. The film was made by two Rollins College students.
Academy students worked for weeks to create an Earth Day Celebration at TCHS. They set up booths and displays where students could learn to use recycled trash to create useful objects.
Students from the Sunrise Elementary School service learning classes were our guests. They moved from station to station learning how to make beads and necklaces from recycled magazines; belts from aluminum can tabs; purses and wallets from Capri Sun containers; musical instruments from paper towel holders, shoe boxes, and other containers; bird feeders and houses from plastic milk and juice containers; ornaments from soda cans; and other recycling projects.
The academy students also gave each Sunrise student four environmental books that they wrote and published. The books used characters and storied to teach how to save energy at home, protecting the oceans and habitats of sea turtles and other marine animals, and protecting endangered species such as Florida manatees. They ended the celebration with academy students hosting their younger environmentalists to lunch.
