For Immediate Release

Friday, March 30, 2018

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Hull Middle School Students Host Inaugural Plastic Awareness Week 

HULL — Students learned a valuable lesson about the importance of recycling following the launch of Hull Memorial Middle School’s Plastic Awareness Week.

From March 26-29, the Green Team — a student group that promotes environmental awareness — hosted several events and activities to increase awareness about plastic pollution.

“Although we can’t change the world in a week, we can implement changes in our school and daily lives to help protect our planet,” said sixth grade earth science teacher Heather Weber, who serves as the adviser for the Green Team. “The Green Team did a great job at coming up with and facilitating activities throughout the week to get students, faculty and staff to realize how even the smallest modifications can be beneficial.”

Monday: Students watched the video “What really happens to a plastic bottle you throw away,” which explains the ramifications of not recycling. Advisory groups — a small group of 10 students that meet with a faculty adviser once a week to explore different topics and participate in team building activities — then competed to make the tallest free-standing structure using only materials from the blue recycling bins in their classrooms.

During the activity, if students found that they were lacking materials in the bins, teachers pointed out that not enough items were being recycled. Anything sticky was used as conversation starter to remind students to always rinse recyclables before disposing of them.

“While the main goal of the tower challenge was to serve as a teachable moment and raise awareness, we also wanted students to have fun collaborating with peers and engaging in a friendly competition,” seventh grade science teacher Joanna Frazier said. “They really got creative and came up with some interesting structures.”

The Green Team served as judges and awarded John Whittle’s sixth grade advisory group as the winner. They earned a breakfast party during a future advisory meeting.

Science teachers also spent time in the lunchroom to remind students which items they could recycle and how to properly dispose of trash. To further promote recycling, the Green Team sold reusable water bottles during lunch for $12 each. The bottles were so popular they sold out, but more will be available at the science fair on April 4.

Tuesday:

Members of the Environmental Protection Agency visited the middle school to give a 45-minute presentation on plastic pollution to each grade. Through their work, the presenters have traveled around the U.S. and were able to share firsthand knowledge with students about the damage plastic causes to our wildlife and environment. 

Waste Free Wednesday:

All students and staff were challenged to make at least one reduction in their daily waste. Students who brought in a waste-free lunch would then be granted permission to participate in an outdoor lunch when the weather permits in May/June.

Thursday:

From Tuesday-Thursday, students could sign up for a Plastic Awareness Poster Contest Enrichment Activity with Weber.

Following a vote by the student body on Thursday, sixth grade students Elly Thomas and Ava Russo received a Hull Green Team Water bottle filled with candy. Entries were judged based on relevance of topic, creativity, and originality.

Hull Memorial Middle School, under the leadership of the Green Team, will host Plastic Awareness Week annually to educate the community about pollution and the importance of recycling.

###