Although every day is Earth Day at Linden Hill, we paid special attention to recognizing how we can help create a healthier planet. Several events marked the day and all of them included giving back to the earth. The day began with Mrs. Phillips reminding every Linden Hill’er to reduce, reuse, and recycle over the intercom. She reminded us how much we already do:

• The Art room reuses a wide range of materials to create sculptures, collages, and other amazing pieces of art,
• We have begun to recycle water bottles as well as the milk bottles thanks to the efforts of Mr. Pal and the Recycling Squad,
• We have reduced the amount of material landfilled by putting paper in the proper place,
• And every day, our fourth and fifth grade Recycling Squad helps to keep our school a greener place.

Later in the morning, the PTA planted shrubbery in the front of the school along with the help of several fifth grade students. These students won an Earth Day poster contest and as the reward they helped to beautify the school grounds. The contest was directed by the fifth grade staff to help promote proper use of resources as well as using non-fiction text to support a message.

During recess, the fourth and fifth grade Recycling Squad helped to plant a new tree in the front of the school. Mr. Palkovitz, Linden Hill’s school counselor, acquired the Red Maple through a donation from Bartlett Tree Experts. With some help from Mr. Palkovitz, Ms. Cox, and Ms. Bernal, the Recycling Squad dug the hole, placed the tree, mulched the area, and the watered our newest community member. When asked how he felt about the tree planting experience, Palkovitz said, “I thought it was incredible for the kids to think about what planting a tree does for the environment.” Students Tiffany Flowers and Devon Collazo thought the idea of digging a hole was fun as well as helping out the environment. “The kids were very excited about the tree,” asserted Vice Principal, Debbie Brady. “The kids love to dig! It was great to see them coming out of the front door in waves to be a part of it, they loved it!”

In the afternoon, Mrs. Everhart’s Kindergartner class explored the school grounds while picking up trash and placing the items in a plastic bag. The class displayed their findings outside of their room. It was quite surprising what they collected.

Art teacher, Laurie Phillips sees the year round activities as having a lasting impact on the children of our community. “Over the years we have done little activities but now that the children are involved with green programs on a daily basis, we are imprinting these behaviors on them and changing their consciousness,” remarks Phillips.

When reflecting on the impact of the 2010 Earth Day, Principal, Dr. Mary Bradley stated that, “Earth Day was a great success at Linden Hill, the children learned how to better appreciate their environment and the planting of the tree was an outstanding activity.” Although Earth Day is one day on the calendar, Linden Hill treats every day like Earth Day.