The entire Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow School District participated in Earth Day 2022. Projects varied from park and playground clean-ups at John Paulding and WL Morse to daffodil dissection at Washington Irving. Students at Sleepy Hollow Middle School spent the entire morning on sustainability projects while students at Sleepy Hollow High School built electric vehicles and AP Physics students shared their ‘Letter to a Public Servant Project.’
Mr. O’Rourke led students at John Paulding School on a campus clean-up. As students gathered around to learn their task for the morning, Mr. O stressed the importance of taking care of the planet to our youngest students. “We are teaching our students how to clean-up after themselves and the importance of keeping a clean and healthy environment from a very young age. It’s a beautiful day and I love to see the passion in the kids and how excited they are to make our Earth a better place, and to continue to do so for years to come,” said Mr. O’Rourke. When asked about the day, Kindergartener Finley exclaimed, “It’s important to recycle and not litter!”
At WL Morse School, Ms. Fradkin and Ms. Andujar hosted a playground clean-up. “We need to help the earth because people are littering all over and we don’t want to do that. We want to help all the time,” said second grader Frida.
Students at Washington Irving dissected a daffodil. This project helped students observe the parts of a flower and learn how each part is involved in helping a plant continue its growth for another generation.
Mike Garguilo and Anthony Patierno led “Sustainbility Day” for Middle School Students. Activities including learning about what is a carbon footprint and how can we reduce our carbon footprint. Students also participated in a green panel and experience a greater understanding of sustainability is the ability of humans to be able to sustain, or keep going, our society. Mr. Garguilo and Mr. Patierno write, “We want to hand this spaceship we call Earth on to the next generation of crew and be proud that it is in good condition. Therefore, sustainability is important to ALL people to support.”
At the High School, Ms. Zielinski’s Regents Physics class partnered with engineering tomorrow to build an electric vehicle. The lab was run by an experienced engineer and students engage with current college students to ask questions and trouble shoot. Their task was to charge an electric battery using solar panels and then use the battery in their electric car to power a fan to make the car go. Students learned about the history of electric vehicles, renewable energy, and circuits! Engineering Tomorrow provided all of the materials for each student to build an electric car.
Ms. Madani’s AP Physics class participants in the “Letter to a Public Servant Project.” Students were tasked to write a public servant of their choice, to advocate for a physics-based issue they feel passionately about. This year, students wrote about moving from fossil-fuel based buses/trains to electric buses/trains, making single use materials biodegradable rather than recyclable now that China does not import our recycling, creating bike lanes in town, the long-term effects of global warming and environmental racism.
Students learned a lot about the planet today and we know this knowledge will stay with them for years to come.
