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WEMS students in recycling frenzy
Science students learn how much paper waste is produced at school

Ryan Williams/WGCN
Sam Mertz, Chris Shelton, Sergio Cardenasm Connor Betz and Brook O'Leary display 974 pounds of paper waste.

Ryan Williams/WGCN Sam Mertz, Chris Shelton, Sergio Cardenasm Connor Betz and Brook O'Leary display 974 pounds of paper waste.

WILLIAMS - A whopping 974 pounds. That's how much paper waste Williams Middle School students have collected in just over one week.

Donya Hadder, a student teacher working in Ms. Wengreen's science class, challenged her students in sixth and seventh grade science classes to collect paper waste produced at the school over the course of an eight-week ecology unit. Hadder hopes to emphasize to the students the importance of recycling by illustrating how much cardboard and paper the school produces every week.

"To introduce ecology and some of the other issues that surround our environment, I talked about recycling," Hadder said. "I wanted to see how much paper waste our school produces over the course of our ecology unit. So, I told the students to start collecting paper products and they were pretty excited about it. It turned into a little bit of a competition between the sixth grade science class and the seventh grade class."

As of last week, the sixth grade science class was in the lead by a narrow margin having collected 495 pounds of recyclable paper product. The seventh graders were close behind with 479 pounds.

As part of the competition, students earn bonus pounds for taking part in activities like helping to clean the school cafeteria. The bonus pound paper waste comes from around the school. Hadder said one source is from the school janitor.

"I'll weigh the janitor's broken down boxes and have 15 extra pounds the students can earn," she said.

Teachers are also participating by recycling old textbooks that have not been used in years. Recyclables from faculty are factored into the competition as bonus points as well.

Hadder said she hopes the students will start to understand how much paper product is consumed at WEMS alone and have a visual image of the byproduct and then brainstorm ways to reduce the waste.

Grand Canyon Railway Manager of Environmental Affairs Morgan O'Connor visited with the students to kick-off the ecology unit emphasizing the importance of recycling as well as explaining how the Railway has made a company wide effort to reduce the amount of waste it produces.

At the end of the competition, the winning students will take part in a field trip to view various eco-systems in the community and see how things like paper waste impact other parts of the ecosystem.

Hadder said she hopes her students come away from the project motivated to make positive changes in their recycling habits.

"What are some ways that we can cut down on our waste," she said. "That's the ultimate goal. The incentive part, as far as earning a field trip, is kind of a side note, but the big thing is 'Hey, look we've got a lot of waste.' How can we cut it down?"

Hadder went on to say that along with fostering awareness about recycling, the competition has had unintended but welcome results.

"Our hallways have never looked so clean," she said.

Sixth grade science student Brook O' Leary said the competition has been a good learning experience.

"I think it's pretty amazing because there is so much waste that is being put in landfills and not being recycled," she said.


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