By Lila Capparelli, Rye Middle School
Emma Kelly-Walsh, eighth grader, sorting through collected plastic bottles.
Sustainability is alive at Rye Middle School (RMS). Students take RMS A.L.I.V.E. (Always Looking Into Vital Ecology) as an elective course in seventh and eighth grade. This course was created by RMS teacher, John Borchert, and is currently taught by himself and John Griffin. Mr. Borchert explained that "RMS A.L.I.V.E. was started to give Middle School students the opportunity to make their school a greener place. Students maintain an organic garden to supply the cafeteria. Students also assist the school’s recycling programs and are always looking to make the school more environmentally friendly."
Students in the class learn about the environment and protecting their planet. They chose to work on projects that make the school more sustainable or increase their schoolmates awareness about their environment.
Projects include:
- Creating and displaying environmental posters educating students about food waste
- Petitioning for a greenhouse in the Middle School
- Building bird, owl, and bat houses
- Creating art out of recycled materials
- Making automatic planters out of recycled water bottles
- Managing indoor and outdoor gardens
RMS ALIVE seventh grader, Harry Swanson, building a bat house for our school grounds.
Additionally, students oversee the school’s outdoor vegetable garden where vegetables are harvested and used in school lunches or brought home to students’ families. They collect recyclable water bottles from the cafeteria and hallways. Students also collect 2 5 gallon orange buckets full of compostable food from the high school cafeteria and add it to the outdoor compost bins. Every fall and spring, RMS A.L.I.V.E. encourages all students to participate in Walk or Bike to School Week through a raffle drawing.
Due to the fact that students get to do whatever project they please and are able to recycle and compost, it is easy to believe that this class is so popular. Also, With all the environmental pollutants being added to the Earth every day, even the smallest actions make a difference. RMS A.L.I.V.E. is helping make this difference.
“I think it’s one of the best classes we run. I love it that kids get a choice in what they do. And this is the generation that will helps save the planet from the environmental poisons.”