Afterschool at Omni Middle School

Our first decision as a group was choosing our youth group. After intense research we decided that Omni Middle School was the best place for our Earth Force program because of the excellent academic achievement and the behavior of the students. Following our introduction of Earth Force at our first meeting we explained to the students each of the four project topics; energy, waste and recycling, school grounds, and transportation. We then created many activities for the students, to help them narrow down which topic they wanted to use for our project. After a couple weeks of concentrated activities on each topic, the students voted. The final vote affirmed that the students’ main interest was recycling and waste.

Once our topic was decided the students had to come up with a project that pertained to recycling and waste. While observing the students at Omni, our students were able to conclude that their fellow classmates really did not even know that they should be recycling. They were oblivious to the fact that throwing paper in the trash bin was actually harming the environment. Not one student even thought of putting their notebook paper in a recycling bin. Not only were the students unaware, but they were lazy. They simply did not want to make an effort to throw their recyclables in the proper bin because they did not want to take the extra step. Our students really felt that their school had a terrible recycling issue and they wanted to fix it. They wanted to get their fellow classmates to stop wasting paper and to start recycling. So the students decided to create a recycling program. Once they decided the recycling program we contacted the Solid Waste Authority. The SWA was very helpful. They sent us videos, recycling bins and posters.

Our first goal was to create a program name and logo. One of our many talented students created RIPS (Recycling In Public Schools). Every member fell in love with the logo and name so it stuck. After we created a name we needed to create a plan. The plan that we established was to place a recycling bin that was colored and designed by our students in every classroom. Then twice a week we would pick up the recyclables after the teachers placed them outside their door. This plan was very effective because each of the teachers cooperated and did everything we asked.
After observing that the students of Omni had no foundation for what recycling was, our group realized that our first step was to figure out a way to teach the student body what recycling is about and how it can help our environment. After researching about recycling the students really wanted to produce our own video that would be played on the announcements. They wanted to make a video that would be funny and informative at the same time. Most of the students were camera shy and did not want to be in the video so they created the script and props. The video was a huge success because the students presented the video in an amusing informative way. Thus their fellow student body was able to learn about recycling while enjoying themselves. Along with the video our students produced newsletters, flyers, pins, and stickers so our program was noticed throughout the whole school. The most effective way our students reached the student body was by placing a recycling fact of the week on the announcements.

To conclude our program for the year we will have a recycling party that we like to call a “Bon-Cycle.” We will have every student in the school come to the Bon-cycle where they will have a chance to throw all of their used paper from the school year in recycling bins. The party will be a good way for us to recycle all of the paper used throughout the entire school year. It is a great way to conclude the year with a fun and amusing event.

The main goal of our project at Omni was to start a sustainable recycling program that would not only stimulate the students to recycle but would also educate them about the importance of recycling. We wanted to change the absence of recycling and the lack of awareness for the environment. With our community based social marketing we wanted to inform the student body about the environment. Examples of this were the flyers, video, facts of the week, pins, and stickers. To actually get the students to recycle we made it easy for them by placing recycling bins in each classroom. This encouraged the students to recycle because the bins were right in their face.