On Wednesday, March 22nd, the MSMS Student Environmental Awareness League (otherwise known as SEAL) made a trip to the Boys and Girls club of Columbus, MS to educate children in the community about the importance of recycling.
The club made a game to help the children learn what to recycle. Junior Vivienne Tenev described that “Before the activity, Angella asked the kids how much they knew about recycling and gave them a quick overview on what things were recyclable. We wore tags with the name of a household object, and we would ask a group of kids whether the object should go into the recyclable or non-recyclable area. We had two teams compete with each other, and the group with the most correct answers won.”
This activity was performed not only to teach kids what recycling is, but also what they can and can’t recycle. Club member and participant Junior Olga Goupalova said “I think the kids got a general review of what recycling was and reinforced their knowledge of what can and can’t be recycled (they already had an idea, but some of the items surprised them). It also helped them practice working in groups as teams, talking in front of other people, and interacting with older students/new people.” One child at the boys and girls club who participated in the event said “I already knew what it (recycling) was, I just didn’t know what you could recycle, but now I do.”
This event was organized by SEAL’s Senior co-president Angella Osinde, who also recruited those who participated. Osinde says “I organized the event because I wanted to spread awareness to elementary kids about the benefits of recycling.” Angella also expressed that while she does not plan on organizing another event such as this one for the rest of the school year, she hopes that the junior inheritors of the club will continue educational outreach projects such as this one.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Mari Lampkin

Boys and Girls Club students learn about recycling.