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Laurel
School's Pre-Primary Students Featured in
“Recycling” Music Video
Created by Craig Matis and
Nancy Clark
Shaker
Heights, Ohio, (United States) –
The Laurel School (www.LaurelSchool.org)
has released “The Recycle Movie,” a six-minute video created by
Laurel teaching assistant Craig Matis and Pre-Kindergarten teacher Nancy
Clark. While singing the original “Recycling” song (music and lyrics by
Mr. Matis), boys and girls from Laurel’s Pre-Primary School illustrate
the value -- and fun! -- of recycling. The video features footage from
the Lorain County Resource Recovery Complex.
Laurel
School has a long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship and
education, and for over ten years, Pre-Primary teacher Nancy Clark,
supported by teaching assistant Craig Matis, has made environmental
education a centerpiece in her classroom. This environmental
programming has often included field trips to the Lorain County Resource
Recovery Complex, where the children can see the recycling process
first-hand. Matis frequently uses music and video to supplement the
exceptional learning experience provided to the girls and boys at
Laurel’s Pre-Primary School.
Other
recent projects at Laurel centering around environmental stewardship,
include a study of the plight of the honeybee by Laurel’s Second
Graders, and a follow-up letter writing campaign to Ohio’s governor to
urge him not to make funding cuts to the State’s apiary program. In
addition, Laurel’s Pre-Primary launched Eco-Wonder! in 2008-09. This
new program emerged from discussions around Last Child In The Woods:
Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv,
which addresses the implications that arise from children’s lack of
engagement with nature. A group of five Pre-Primary faculty members
developed a unique curriculum that reflects the Pre-Primary’s
long-standing philosophy of promoting wonder, play and the exploration
of the natural world as the seeds for a lifetime of joyful learning.
The goals of the Eco Wonder!
curriculum are twofold: to foster a connection with the outdoor
environment of Laurel’s Lyman and Butler Campuses through exploration
and experimentation and to promote sustainability through stewardship of
our two campuses and the world at large. In the eco-laboratory in our
courtyard at the Lyman Campus, students explore and experiment. They
observe, smell and enjoy the many flowers and plants that grow there and
learn how important plants are in the life cycle of earth. Our rain
barrel collects rain water which we then recycle and use to water our
gardens. Next to the rain barrel is an observation garden, which will
remain untouched to allow nature to take over. The children watch the
process over time and record their observations in a variety of ways.
Two other examples of our
commitment to sustainability are the solar fountain, which makes a great
example of one form of alternate energy production, and our “Tumbleweed
Composter,” where the children place their food scraps and learn about
decomposition. In addition, we are celebrating Earth Day with the
inauguration of a small greenhouse, specifically dedicated for the
Eco-Wonder! Program.
Laurel is
fortunate to have the resources of its outdoor Butler Campus to use in
teaching environmental awareness. With 140 acres of woods and streams,
as well as an 1,600 square foot- “magic tree house,” playing and
exploring in the woods is regular occurrence for Laurel students.
Organizations and schools may find the Recycling video useful in their
curricular programming. A DVD of “The Recycle Movie” is available
by contacting Julie Donahue at
216.464.1441.
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