Students 'green' their school

By Michael D’Onofrio, Managing Editor
On Monday afternoon, students at Washington Elementary School were helping the environment — one cup of coffee at a time.
Students in the school’s Green Schools Program noticed that teachers seem to drink a lot of coffee on a daily basis and, as a result, there is a large amount of waste in the form of disposable styrofoam and cardboard cups. To help make a difference in their school, the students saw an easy solution to the problem: get all of the teachers to drink coffee or tea out of reusable cups.
Fifth-grade teacher Chris Yonitch and kindergarten teacher Victoria Busby, who head the Green Schools Program at Washington School, purchased dozens of reusable coffee cups for the students to sell to the teachers, but the students also added their own personal touch.
On Monday, students were decorating the of the cups with their own images and phrases.
“This year, we are trying to eliminate the amount of waste at the school,” said Yonitch, “The amount of coffee cups teachers use each day is insane.”
This is not the first time the students in the program — a collaboration of fifth-grade students and kindergartners, have made a difference at the school. Last year, with trash bags in hand, they canvassed the neighborhood, doing a community cleanup, where they picked up garbage on the streets and sidewalks.