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Students Explore The Greener Side Of Life

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By SUZANNE M. SCHMIDT

IN THE LOOP

Published: February 4, 2009

Countryside Montessori Elementary officials are hoping the Green Schoolyard Project will help students gain a better appreciation for the differences they can make in the local environment.

"It is an investment in the land we live in," said Julie Toth, coordinator for the project and the school's music teacher.

Thanks to the project's implementation, each classroom now recycles and uses a compost bin for transforming leftover table scraps into soil-enriching materials. These efforts, however, are only the tip of the iceberg.

"In the future, we are going to try to create living laboratories with solar features, water systems, edible gardens and wildlife habitats," Toth said. "We plan to start the gardens this spring so our students can learn the life cycle of plants. Eventually, we would like to have a farmer's market for the students and their families and one day, the community. "

In addition to adding living laboratories and recycling, the school is planning to expand its curriculum by adding a new 5,000-square-foot green building made with sustainable, recycled materials, a living roof made of plants, solar panels for electricity and rain barrels to collect rainwater. The new building will be for seventh- and eighth-graders. The school currently teaches first through sixth-grade.

"We are going to have the students and a teacher at USF (University of South Florida) designing and constructing the building," Toth said. "We will have to provide the materials and also pay for the design, which should cost about $500,000. We have just started fundraising and we are hoping to get help from the community and area businesses."

Varun Madabushi, 9, said he has taken his lessons home and taught his parents a thing or two about recycling and composting.

"Now we have a compost pile at home," Madabushi said. "It is silly because people are filling landfills with old food when they could just use worms to decompose it. It is good to decompose food because then you have rich plant soil."

Alessandra Paolinetti, 9, said she likes recycling.

"I learned you have to recycle to help save the planet," Paolinetti said. "Recycling is good because it doesn't create as much garbage."

At Montessori, the main focus is on hands-on learning where students are educated based on an individual learning plan. Teacher Colleen Cook said she has taught her students to recycle and grow their own food because she thinks it is an important lesson.

"In this day and time, it is especially important to teach them about the environment, because of all the damage that has already been done," Cook said. "We are teaching them to be self-sufficient and independent. I also think it is important to teach them to grow their own food because it is something they should know."

In addition to trying to help save the planet, the school also has a less lofty goal of helping to save the monarch butterfly by planting milkweed. The school received milkweed seeds from the Live Monarch Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides free milkweed seeds to people across the country so when the monarch makes its 3,000-mile migration from Central Mexico to Central Canada they have something to eat. For more information, visit livemonarch.org.

For information about the school or to make a tax-free donation, call (813) 996-0991.

Reporter Suzanne M. Schmidt can be reached at (813) 948-4288 or sschmidt@mediageneral.com.

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