Teacher at Immaculate Conception school awarded Eco-Educator
Two years ago Alvares, who has taught at the school for twenty-three years, decided the school need an ecology focus. But with money tight at the private Catholic school, Alvares knew she would have to begin with small changes.
She developed “The Daily Green,” a scheduled activity for each day of the week incorporating an aspect of ecology.
Monday – each class spends one period with lights off
“Waste Free Tuesday” – each class is encouraged to minimize lunch waste
Wednesday – students bring paper from home to recycle. The class with the most paper gets to hold the “Eco-Frog Award”
Thursday Ecology Club – members wear their club t-shirts and have their club meeting
Fridays – students pick up trash around the campus
Along with paper collection on Wednesday’s, recycling is now a major component of Immaculate Conception’s green program. Students collect cans, wash plastic juice bottles and separate other plastics to recycle once a month.
A grant from the City of Grand Prairie helped the school build a garden that each class has an allotted area to upkeep and a compost pile made from organic matter brought in by students, supplies nutrients for the garden Immaculate Conception School Principal Linda Santos said the results of Alveres’ program are remarkable.
“She has truly changed the mindset of these students in such a short period of time,” Santos said. “Environmentalism is not a chore to these students; it is a part of their daily lives.”
