HASTINGS AND PRINCE EDWARD DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
Madoc Township Grade 4/5s combat litter

On March 1st, Angela Burr's Grade 4/5 class from Madoc Township Public School presented a proposal to the Madoc Township city council for support in helping to clean up litter. The presentation was partly to raise awareness of the damaging impacts of littering on the environment and wildlife. In addition, the class presented a proposal to council to obtain a donation from the township of garbage bags and a processing space, to support students cleaning up litter in the municipality.

The idea began when the class participated in a virtual tour of the Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre, which sparked an ongoing class discussion about the impact humans have on the environment. 

Teacher Angela Burr encouraged the students to consider what action students could take to combat the harmful effects of pollution in their immediate environment and they determined that cleaning up litter in their community would create a tangible positive benefit. This in turn lead to the idea of presenting to the local council to raise awareness and support of their initiative. 

"I saw this as a great opportunity to not only empower students by showing how they have the ability to benefit their community," shared Mrs. Burr, "but by observing and participating in a council meeting, they could also learn how to effect change at a local level". 

The Grade 4/5 students prepared a video outlining the impacts of littering and wrote the following statement to introduce themselves to the councilors.

"We are the unstoppable grade 4/5 class of Madoc Township Public School. We humans have made a huge negative impact on our earth. But we believe we can make a difference. In order to understand all this you need to know the whole story. It all began with our video tour of Sandy Pines in the fall. They helped spark a curiosity about human impacts on the environment which soon became an inquiry on littering and impacts on our ecosystems. It lead some of us to wonder if we also make positive impacts. We then thought, what can we do? A small group of students were inspired to clean our school yard and now we wish to expand. So that is why we are here. To make a change. Because we are the unstoppable students from Ms Burr's grade 4/5 class. Hope you enjoy our video."