Little Tor Students Learn About Recycling And The Art Of Giving

Fifth grade students at worked on making the holidays happier for families with members who have special needs or disabilities.   On Tuesday, the 18 students in Meghan Clark’s class decorated recycled cardboard boxes with colorful images and cheerful sayings cut from magazines and newspapers.  Once completed, the boxes will be filled with non-perishable food items donated by students in all grades and given to Jawonio families. 

The project taught the students about recycling and caring for others.  

“My class has been doing this for three years,” said Clark.  “We wanted to recycle the products that we have.  We took the boxes from the lunchroom.  We took the magazines from home. We wanted to give back to the earth.”

The students enjoyed their work. 

“It makes me feel good,” said 10-year-old Cameron.  “We collected food from the whole entire school.”

Emma said her classmates spread magazine and newspaper pages on the classroom floor so they could pick the images they wanted.  Students took different approaches to their decorations, selecting pictures of animals or places. They proudly described their creations.

10-year-old Brooke said, “I just was looking for anything colorful and festive.  Over here I have Happy Holidays.  It’s really just to give back to the environment while being able to give back to other people at the same time.”

Nick said, “We’re trying to make themes.  This side is supposed to be colorful.  I’ve got monkeys, a rainbow, right here Mexico in flashing colors.”

Artist Tracy Katchik-Anders of Nyack volunteered her time to help the students make rubber stamps with their names and greetings.  Each student will make a personalized holiday cards to go with their gift box.  The stamps kept to the recycling theme since both sides can be used for printmaking over and over again for greeting cards.

Katchik-Anders, a former teacher who now owns Vincent’s Ear in Nyack, said it felt good to be back in a classroom sharing with students.

“I’m big on recycling,” she said.  “I’m super green.  I showed the kids how you can make art out of anything.”

Clark explained the project started on November 18 when the Student Council organized Dress Down Day.  Participating students in the New City school brought in two non-perishable items.  The donations will be used to fill the decorated cardboard boxes and delivered to Jawonio next week for distribution to families.