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Highlands Elementary Contact:
Project Coordinator Contact: |
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Media Release |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Edina Elementary to host a community Earth Day celebration Edina, Minn., April 16, 2009 – Highlands Elementary students can’t wait to show the community how low they can go. Thanks to a grant provided by Hennepin County, four classrooms have been participating in a pilot project to see how close to zero they can come to reducing the amount of waste and toxicity they produce at school. The students, whose ages range from six to 11, will unveil their “How low can you go?” project at the Highland’s Earth Day Celebration, taking place on April 22 from 6 – 8 p.m. at Highlands Elementary located at 5505 Doncaster Way, Edina, MN 55436. The “How low can you go?” project, for the 2008-2009 school year, is custom designed by nearly 100 students. Throughout this project, teachers served as facilitators shaping the conversation for how Highlands could be a greener school, but the students developed the solutions. “The students understand the overwhelming problem of limited resources and are learning that they can make choices that will make a difference,” said Dan Baier, a first-grade teacher whose classroom is participating in the pilot program. As a result of the project, Highlands has made some changes. The school now uses non-toxic cleaner to wash most of its surfaces, composts paper towels and lunchroom waste, does not use classroom lights on sunny days and runs paper through the printer twice. Students also developed a reusable party basket that cuts down on plastic waste at classroom parties. Some changes have not been so easy. For example, students committed themselves to zero-waste lunches, which means no packaged food like Lunchables or using Ziploc baggies to transport food. “The program turned out much different than I expected,” said project coordinator Julie McMahon Jones. “The ideas that the students came up with were amazing, and in some cases, it was the adults who had to do things differently and adjust.” The Earth Day event celebrates students’ efforts and allows parents and community members to take part in their vision by decorating cloth shopping bags, creating a non-toxic cleaner and experimenting with wind source energy kits. Live world music, a green raffle and the showing and sharing of green ideas will be part of the event. The Edina Energy and Environment Commission and the EcoMom Alliance are among the green vendors that will be present. In addition, the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society will be presenting Wind and Solar 101 at 7:00 p.m. in the media center. This is a community event and all are welcomed to attend. A promotional flyer is available here. About Edina Public Schools: ###  |
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