SEA CLIFF SCHOOL AND VILLAGE COMMITTEE PARTNERSHIP SEEKS TO RAISE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND ACTIVISM
October 30, 2014 -- The Sea Cliff Waterfront/ Environmental Committee and Sea Cliff School have formed a partnership in an effort to promote greater environmental consciousness and civic mindedness among school age children. The seed of the collaboration was planted this past August during a Sea Cliff Village Board meeting attended by several school age children. After 4th graders Dylan Roth and Will Winchester addressed the Board of Trustees regarding their ideas for improvements to the Village, Trustee Ed Lieberman raised the possibility of extending that evening's hands-on learning experience to include community activism, and encouraged the young people in attendance to attend the next Waterfront/Environmental Committee meeting.
Now, Dylan and Will, along with their parents, have helped organize a poster design challenge for kids called "Sea Cliff Recycles!" They explained their proposal at the October 12th Sea Cliff Village Board meeting. They said that they envision the image of the winning entry being put on reusable shopping bags that would be sold to the public. The funds raised would go towards the purchase of attractive recycling bins that would be placed in public spaces around the village and in the central business district. That in turn would help the village to reduce its municipal solid waste which can cost around $80/ton to dispose of, and increase its recyclables for which the village is currently paid about $12/ton. The school-village collaboration has also led to Waterfront/ Environmental Committee members sharing their expertise in "going green" with Sea Cliff Students. Earlier this month, Debra Dumas and Sherry Login participated in the schools first, and likely to be annual, "Build a Better World Day," conducting a workshop at the school's kindergarten playground for the entire third grade on the science behind and the benefits to composting. Sea Cliff School Principal Chris Zublionis said that by the end of the year, he and the committee hoped to have "students presenting to community members regarding the role of decision making and its connection to environmental practices." Those wishing to participate in the Sea Cliff Recycles! poster challenge are tasked with creating a poster that encourages people to do at least one of the following things - recycle properly (separating metals and plastic from paper trash); compost; recycle at school, reduce waste and energy at school; or pick up litter. Entries are due by November 15th - America Recycles Day. The rules are in line with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's New York Recycles! poster contest rules which can be found here (http://www.dec.ny.gov/education/32506.html) and assuming the DEC once again holds the contest this spring, 15 of the entries would be entered in the state-wide contest. BACK TO WEEKLY BACK HOME |
Waterfront/Environmental Committee members Debra Dumas and Sherry Login conduct a workshop on composting at Sea Cliff Elementary school in mid-October.
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