From Christina Bakoyannis, Middle School Faculty

The GAIA Environment Club concluded this year’s activities by organizing a water bottle challenge on June 10th during middle school lunch. Club members collected water bottles from classrooms and offices. They then challenged middle school students to form teams to create a stool to sit on from water bottles for a specific amount of time. Students learned about reusing materials as well as removing the caps for recycling and returning any leftover water into the soil. Students were engaged and had a lot of fun!

This activity was the culmination of many other projects that students took part in this year. The club began the year by conducting research on Middle School students' recycling practices. The club members went around during lunch wearing their green T-shirts to see whether students are recycling properly and using the right bins. They developed an advisory lesson around the issue of recycling and invited a guest speaker to speak to the Middle School about the effects of plastics on marine life. At the beginning of the year, students also presented at the 6th Annual GAIA Greece Youth Symposium “Waste not…want not” with a presentation titled “A school recycling scheme”. 

Here are some of the student reflections:

“Thank you so much for all the amazing experiences! I had a blast participating in all of the activities/projects we organized.“

“We had a wonderful time this year and I hope to join next year as well. I hope everyone has a lovely summer.”