Earth Day, Every Day

This year, the Earth Day Network is promoting Friday’s Earth Day as a time to start getting “really big stuff done for our planet.” At Lowell, students are regularly challenged to exercise their environmental responsibility through the school-wide composting and recycling programs, as well as specially-designed curricular units. But, participating in Earth Day is important, too, because it connects Lowell students to a larger community of people working together on environmental issues.

Last week, the Middle School was inspired to take action by Lowell teacher and former park ranger, Doug Nowlin. In the Primary School, the Young Activists Club worked with parents to forge a new partnership with the Rock Creek Conservancy in order to organize Earth Day activities for the rest of the division.

 

 

P.E. Teacher Doug Nowlin was surprised at the amount of hands that were raised after his presentation to Middle School students last Wednesday during Gathering. “It seemed that almost every hand was raised in unison,” he said. There were so many questions. 

 

Doug was invited to speak about his career as a park ranger in the US National Park Service. What began as a summer time job during college led Doug to a career stationed at various parks such as Crater Lake National Park, Oregon; Yosemite National Park, California (15 summers); Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; Point Reyes National Seashore, California; The Statue of Liberty, New York; and Everglades National Park, Florida. Doug can legitimately claim NPS1, Liberty Island, N.Y., N.Y. as a prior address!

 

“The most important thing I learned as a Park Service ranger was how to solve problems,” says Doug. He recounted stories of his duties as a ranger, which included education, firefighting, first aid, law enforcement, search and rescue, and helicopter operations. “The kids were riveted,” says Middle School Division Coordinator Leslie Sinsay. You can tell when someone loves what they do during a presentation “because you begin to love it too,” she says.

 

After hearing Doug’s presentation, in their Delta groups, students decided to organize a clean up. On Monday, students walked around campus, surrounding neighborhood streets, and in Rock Creek Park picking up trash. The effort led to more ideas for next year such as planting trees or picking a spot on campus to beautify.

 

 

This year, the Primary School Young Activists Club (YAC) is really making its mark. On Friday, the YAC will partner with the Rock Creek Conservancy to help clean up Rock Creek Park. Math Coordinator Jessica Tomback says the goal of the club is to develop lifelong skills as communicators and inspire students to be change agents. “We ‘older activists’ strongly believe in the value of community service and working to enact change. At Lowell, the ideas and actions come from the children,” she says.

 

With the help of Gracie Dogramaci’s mother, Jesse Meiller, connecting with the Rock Creek Conservancy was easy. Primary School classes are signed up for various times on Friday, Earth Day, to go into the park with conservancy members and clean up the park.

 

Young Activists Club members have already organized a food drive and spearheaded a marker-recycling program this year. An article written by club members about recycling markers will appear in The Northwest Current soon.

 

 

Student voice and choice is honored at Lowell and is definitely true for members in the Young Activists Club. Students regularly ask to be more involved in “green” practices, which opens doors for different types of hands-on and experiential learning experiences. This type of motivation and involvement not only benefits the planet but builds self-esteem, happiness, and improves general wellness in students. Jessica reflects, “Children need to feel they have a voice and are part of the school and larger community”; they also need to “see that good, thoughtful ideas can be transformed into action!”