THE EVENT
Class: Sydney McDonald's Extended Learning Program (ELP) class
Number of students: 4
Subject: Trees
The sixth-grade students in Nibley Park's ELP class, the program for gifted students, plan a newspaper recycling drive, Nov. 4-8, to earn money for trees for the school playground. They also will encourage each of the school's 579 students to plant one tree for each member of his or her family.
Class members have written a presentation about the value of trees, which will be given at a school assembly. They're also visiting other classes. Recently, they told the second graders in MarJean Wilcox's class about disappearing tropical forests, global warming and the dwindling urban forests in American cities.
"There are over 2 million people in Utah. If each one planted one tree, there would be 2 million new trees in our state," Monique Montoya, 11, told 23 second graders.
THE SCHOOL
Location: 2785 S. 800 East Students: 579, kindergarten through sixth grade Number of teachers, staff: 27 Principal: Peter Gallegos School district: Salt Lake
THE LESSON
The teacher's objective: To help children recognize they can do something for the environment themselves.
"There is real value in having children teach other children. Children learn they can do something about the environment. Children can take the initiative to do something in a pro-active way," McDonald said The children say:
"My family is going to plant six trees in Cow Canyon when we go deer hunting," said Ryan Zumwalt, 11.
Brandy Moore, 11, who said she didn't know much about trees until her studies, also reported that her family has tree-planting plans.
"What really got me motivated was to learn that for 800 trees cut down in Utah, only 400 are replaced. I just didn't know how badly we've neglected trees in the world," said Kristy Halverson, 12. What happens next:
The sixth-graders will continue to teach their fellow students about importance of trees and to raise money for the playground trees.