Anthony Sciarrino, a kindergartner at H.L. Johnson Elementary School, was the first student ever to win the Green Student of the Year award for his recycling and environmental efforts.
Students who bring in a specific item of the month, consisting of the schools green fundraising recyclables such as juice pouches, clothing, used uniforms, and ink toners and cartridges, earn a pledge card. Pledge cards are also earned by attending the campus cleanups and school beautification and other green projects.
Parents can earn pledge cards for their children when they assist in green events. Sciarrino’s mother, Deidra Sciarrino, joined the school’s environmental group, Team Green, and volunteered for the juice pouch cleaning rotation to help the school earn money, and earn her children pledge cards. The juice pouches are then shipped to TerraCycle for upcycling, where the school earns two cents per pouch.
Sciarrino’s classroom also won Green Classroom of the Year with the most pledge cards throughout the school. His teacher, Kimberly Brandofino, was very encouraging and even brought in recycling items herself. Each student in the class won a basket of hats, T-shirts, TerraCycle bracelets, and reusable and recycle aluminum straws called Forever Straws.
Along with a hat and T-shirt, Brandofino was given green school supplies for her classroom, such as paper products made from recycled paper, and a corkboard made from reused corks.
Sciarrino had a 19 pledge cards, and his classroom had a total of 68.
ABOVE: Anthony Sciarrino
