Special to The Times-Tribune
The Corbin Middle School (CMS) PRIDE Club has won the region’s PRIDE Environmental Education Project of the Month Award. The club’s winning project was developing and presenting a proposal to replace Styrofoam trays in the school district’s lunchrooms.
Seventh-graders Tyler Reynolds, Ethan Carnes and Allison Smith presented the proposal to the CMS student council, CMS cafeteria manager and the school district’s cafeteria director. Their Power Point presentation explained the dangers of Styrofoam. For example, Styrofoam leaks toxins as it decomposes, which can take 100 to 1,000 years, and it is dangerous to animals that eat it. They also showed that the schools would save money when they stopped purchasing the disposable Styrofoam trays.
As a result of their proposal, CMS will be switching to hard plastic trays. A dishwasher will be installed in the cafeteria to wash the trays, which already were in storage at the school.
“With thoughtful, determined leaders like this in our middle schools, just imagine what our community will look like 20 years from now,” said Tammie Wilson, PRIDE vice president and chief operating officer. “At PRIDE, we’re privileged to work with young people across the region, and I must tell you it is very encouraging. They are taking personal responsibility for the environment. They are making a difference.”
“I am very proud of the stand these students took,” said Melissa Evans, CMS teacher and PRIDE Club sponsor. “They saw a problem and did not wait for an adult to try to resolve it. They presented a well thought out solution that just makes sense. We have got to change our habits and our attitudes about throwing things away and look for ways to reuse instead of dispose. These students are leaders in our school and community and hopefully everyone will learn something from the initiative they took.”
Evans said that recycling led the club members to make their proposal. They are very involved with recycling at school and were discouraged to see so much waste generated in their cafeteria. They discovered there wasn’t much that they could do about the Styrofoam other than try to eliminate it.
In their Power Point presentation, the students explained: “Our school is a PRIDE school. We get awards for our efforts to recycle and such. Yet we throw away so much of this Styrofoam every day that it’s almost embarrassing. We can change that to be a total PRIDE school. Help us to ban Styrofoam from our school.”
PRIDE Clubs give students opportunities to learn about the environment in fun ways, mentor younger students and perform community service. PRIDE provides $300 to operate each club. In addition to the PRIDE Club funding, CMS received a $3,250 grant to buy teaching resources.
Eastern Kentucky PRIDE is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental cleanup and education efforts in 38 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky. The PRIDE Environmental Education Project of the Month program rewards creative, effective ways of showing students why and how to care for the environment.
For more information about PRIDE, please visit www.kypride.org or call the PRIDE office, toll free, at 888-577-4339.
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‘Styrofoam Busters’ win PRIDE award
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