H.L. Johnson Elementary School celebrated American Recycles Day, held Nov. 15, during the school’s monthly Green Day event where students bring in recycling fundraisers consisting of ink toners, cell phones, cartridges, writing instruments, clothing, used uniforms, juices pouches, Entennman’s Little Bites and bottle caps. Students wear green uniform shirts and the staff wears green T-shirts donated by business partner Keep Palm Beach County Beautiful.
The teacher with the heaviest collection of items wins a front-row parking space decorated with “Green Teacher of the Month,” and participating students are rewarded with color-changing pencils donated by business partner the Solid Waste Authority. There are two winners each month, pre-K through second and third through fifth. Cassie Griffin’s third-grade class won two months in a row. The schools environmental group, Team Green, along with safety patrol students, weigh, sort and distribute all of the fundraising items. The bottle caps are donated to Caps of Love.
This month, 423 pounds of reusable, recyclable or up-cycled materials were collected. Since August, the Green Day event has diverted more than 1,200 pounds of waste from the landfill.
ABOVE: Cassie Griffin’s award-winning third-grade class.
