Carl Sagan Academy – Ms. Reed’s 8th Grade

Carl Sagan Academy is a charter school in Tampa with a mission to create well-rounded, productive citizens by teaching middle-school youth how to think critically and solve problems rationally.

Students in Ms. Reed’s eighth grade class decided to improve their communities by creating 2-minute commercials that educate younger students, parents and community members about the issues that concern them most. Their goals for the community outreach included:

teach others how to recycle and reuse
provide health information about prevention of sexually transmitted diseases
understand ways to prevent fighting and bullying

To prepare them to understand these issues in depth, they attended a field trip to Hillsborough County’s landfill and learned more about environmental issues from Roberta Fernandez, Environmental Advocate, and Nina Stokes, City of Tampa Solid Waste. Their partnership with USF and funding from Florida Learn & Serve enabled their success.

Their pick-up of litter in the neighborhood adjacent to their campus resulted in better care of the surrounding area by anonymous citizens who began mowing the area.