Thinking Green in November!

    November has been a busy, busy month for Think Green at Boyd!  It seems as if these past four weeks have really gotten our project off the ground and into a good groove with the Green Activities at Boyd. During the last week of October, we headed over to Boyd for our first "Green Recess" where we made Pine Cone birdseed feeders and Mini-Frankenstines out of recyclable materials.  After that we have had one activity after another over there and are really starting to connect with some of the kids and faculty.  After our green recess, we were able to go over a couple days later for our first meeting with the Green Team- a preexisting student group that we are hoping to help out with and eventually expand.  At the meeting we split up the boys and girls and had the girls make necklaces out of recycled plastic bags and newspaper while the boys cut up old newspapers to make "monster chains" or cutouts of other creatures that they decorated with markers.  After the meeting some of the group emptied all of the recycling bins in the school.
     Finally, the most exciting recent activity from our group was a series of two in-class presentations we made to two third grade classes.  Using an interactive lesson plan, we worked to explain the Nitrogen Cycle to an eager group of kids who, we were pleasantly surprised to find, were extremely receptive to learn about.  After explaining the Nitrogen Cycle we got down to the fun stuff and played a "nitrogen cycle themed" game with the kids and munched on organic snacks which we explained to the kids would help promote green agriculture and help combat one of the detriments of the Nitrogen Cycle as it is altered by pollution.
   Overall, I think this month was extremely successful for our group and I am now looking forward to the future of working with the kids now that we have a better idea of what sort of activities can be effective and how we can most efficiently prepare for them.  To date, the most encouraging part of our project has been the enthusiastic feedback that we have received from teachers, administrators, and (most importantly) the kids at Boyd.  Everyone has been extremely encouraging and accommodating to help us make our project a success and it is so fantastic to start getting feedback and excitement from the kids as they are more exposed to "green thinking" and how they can help out in their community.

Anna Regan