Students run school recycling program

Nov. 28, 2006

By MATT TUNSETH

Frontiersman

WASILLA - Students at Iditarod Elementary are really cleaning up - thanks to a new recycling program starting up this week at the school.

&#8220The kids are doing just great,” Iditarod principal said of the new program, which is run by the school's student council.

According to student council sponsor Tracy Collum, a fifth-grade teacher at the Wasilla school, fifth-graders are in charge of going from classroom to classroom to pick up paper to be recycled.

&#8220They're working out a schedule now for who will go to which classrooms and when,” Collum said.

But there's more to the program than just picking up trash. Collum said she and other teachers at the school plan to integrate the program into their students' overall learning experience.

&#8220We'll be doing data collection, weighing the trash and tracking it,” she said. &#8220With the math and data, it really ties in well to our curriculum.”

In addition to data collection, Collum said she would like to incorporate guest speakers and discussions on recycling and environmental issues into the program.

Although the new program is just getting underway, Collum said students are already excited about helping out the environment - one classroom at a time.

&#8220Our kids have always recycled and been interested in recycling,” she said. &#8220I think they're going to be really jazzed about it.”

Iditarod has contracted with Valley Recycling Pick Up for the program. According to VRPU owner Kelci Hatcher, the business will swing by the school every two weeks to collect the recyclables, mainly paper, and bring them to the Valley Community for Recycling Solutions recycling center.

&#8220Every classroom has a bin, and then we come and pick it up,” Hatcher said. &#8220It's basically a way to try and capture a large portion of all the paper they would otherwise throw out.”

Hatcher said she's heard from other schools interested in starting a similar recycling program, and said she hopes the idea will catch on with students and teachers from around Mat-Su.

&#8220We'll try to weigh what we take away from there, and maybe the schools could have contests between them to see who can recycle the most,” she said.

If the program is a success, Collum said she hopes to expand it into areas of recycling other than just paper.

&#8220We want to start it with cans, too.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265.