Earth Day

Earth Day is Sunday, but our school celebrated it on Friday. I remember something about Arbor Day when I was a kid, had something to do with trees, but that's about all I remember. Earth Day and Arbor Day are not the same day, although they are celebrated a week from each other in April each year. Whereas Arbor Day began in 1872, Earth Day began in 1970. Neither of them is a religious holiday.

Our recognition of this day is a culmination of two weeks of teaching and preparing students for the event. Teachers all through the school used the theme of taking care of our planet Earth as a focus for many classroom activities. My first graders, for instance, are writing a paragraph of how they can show they respect the earth. First I read them a book called "For Love of the Earth." It's written for the young student, and though it doesn't go into many details, it is a good starting place for a discussion about how young children can take care of the earth.

I didn't realize it until our principal told us at the afternoon assembly, but ours is the only school in this school system to celebrate Earth Day with schoolwide activities, including a parade through the school's neighborhood. This was to be my first experience with Earth Day in a school.

  

The school bell rang at 7:35, and fifth graders began to bring in their bikes. They parked them right in front of my classroom!

You see, any fifth grader would be able to ride their bikes, decorated for Earth Day, in the afternoon parade. The rule was the bike had to bear a decoration in honor of earth day, and they would have to wear a helmet. No helmet, no bike ride in the parade.

Shortly after 9:00 a.m., as I stepped outside of my classroom to send a student on to his regular classroom, I saw the top of a hot-air balloon towering over our school. I grabbed my camera and ran out to the field.

                

I knew there would be a hot air balloon there as a special treat for all the students who had completed their reading incentive goals for the month, but I didn't know exactly when it would be inflated. I had heard that some teachers wouldbe allowed to fly up in the balloon... even if only for a trip up and back down again. I was hoping to be one of those going up.

Last  year, I had had the opportunity to fly in a Black Hawk helicopter, and took some great photos of our school and other parts of the county. I hoped I would get a good shot of this school from the air. If I could go up!

When I got to the field, I saw the teachers and the hot air balloonist in the middle of the field, fighting to keep the balloon on the ground. Despite it being tethered, the balloon was at the mercy of the rather breezy morning we were having.

                

It was decided that the wind was too gusty for a safe landing, so after a brief consideration, the balloon was laid down on its side and allowed to deflate.

          

The balloonist is the brother of one of our teachers. That's how we were able to have an exciting event at our school, on a Friday morning. His name is John Robinson, and he's from Statesville, NC. It was fun just watching the balloon inflate, not to mention how refreshing the early morning air was. So nice to be sitting outside in the sunshine on a school day. To interest the kids further, John walked around with a microphone and answered the students' questions about the balloon. His sister tells me he has been doing this for over twenty years, ballooning. He has a daytime job as well.

                 

We watched as the balloon completely deflated, and then it was time to gather up the balloon. John asked some fourth graders to help, and they did with much cooperation.

                                     

Soon after all the hot air balloon excitement, the balloon was packed away, and it was time for lunch. Then it was time for the Earth Day assembly in the gym.

All the students and teachers gathered in the gym. Some classes had songs to sing, there were a couple of songs all the students knew, and one was done in sign language. It was good to see that today's children are being reminded of our responsibility for taking care of our great planet Earth.

A staff member was named "Mother" Earth for the parade, she was given a crown of flowers, and a cape made from plastic rings like found around six packs of drinks. She actually looked quite elegant in the re-used plastic finery.

Then, the parade began. First, five very nice convertible cars carrying "Mother" Earth and her Royal Court lead the way, beeping their horns. The "Court" was made up of teachers and staff (including our principal) who will be retiring this year.The kindergartners followed the cars, then came the first graders, second graders, and so on. All the teachers, including myself, carried a balloon. Police cars were on every corner of the parade route.

             

Each class walked in the parade either carrying a banner, or individual students waved flags they had made. There were lots of Mother Earth slogans, like Happy Earth Day andWe loveour Earth. Neighbors who were home at the time stepped out of their homes to watch. I even saw that some parents had driven to the neighborhood and parked their cars near enough to watch it. Imagine 600 or more people, mostly students, walking through your neighborhood, calling out "Happy Earth Day!" I've never seen anything like it. I walked alongside snapping pictures.

        

The fifth graders brought up the rear of the parade. I'd say less than twenty bicycles were there. The rest ofthe fifth graders walked and waved, or carried a banner.

                                     

Finally, we were headed up the final stretch. Turn left here and you are on our street once more. City police cars blocked off either end of the road for the duration of the parade. 

           

                                                  Earth Day Flag Image link

"The Earth flag is not an official flag, since there is no official governing body over Earth. The flag holds a photo transfer of a NASA image of the Earth on a dark blue background. It has been associated with Earth Day." (from Wikipedia article)

All in all, it was a pretty day to be outside walking through the neighborhood.

I don't think we can ever stop talking about ways in which to contribute to the conservation of resources and to the importance of recycling. The topic is much broader, of great importance, and there is much to debate.

I think each of us should examine what we do individually and globally to take care of the earth we live on, and ask ourselves, is it enough? What kind of world will our children, grandchildren, and great-granchildren be living in if we don't take care of our planet?

 

Tags: blogplug, Earth Day, Hot Air Balloon