January | 2024 | We Future Cycle

It is well known that humans protect what they love. Bringing sustainability to a classroom means showing students, as young as Kindergarten that something as vast and big as the ocean needs protecting for all those wonderful creatures that call it home.

Cuddly ocean animals like dolphins are easy to love, but the real fun (and learning) starts with the crazy creatures like anglerfish, corals or jellyfish. Once students realize that life all around them has value and some truly fantastic features, they will begin to see themselves in that system. I just love the groans from them when they learn that starfish eat by inserting their stomach lining into the pried open shell to digest it externally and slurp it up.

When students learn to love the ocean with its creatures, it is easy to teach them not to litter because that stuff would end up in the ocean and hurt those very same animals

If you have ever been in a school lunchroom, unless you are faint hearted, it is a truly invigorating experience. 150 kids in a room, chatting, walking, playing, eating …. a never ending hum of activity. To control such masses, there are elaborate systems in place. Voice levels are measured and given a number code and students learn very quickly how a level 1 voice is being quiet. Students are asked to raise their hands if they need anything during lunch, and there are large posters with hand signals displayed for the kids to review.

Recycling is so normal for White Plains students that there is a hand signal established for it and it is working well. We Future Cycle is very proud to have been able to create a generation of White Plains students that care.