Bash The Trash

BASH THE TRASH came to PS40 and the whole school got to see them.

Bash the Trash, as its name implies, is all about building musical instruments from unusual materials, such as recycled junk, discarded stereo components and old children's toys.

Their goal is to educate children about the connections of sound and acoustics to science, math, literacy and cultural studies through the use of simple musical instruments.

They work to promote environmental awareness through increased student participation in the three "R's" - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Bash The Trash feels Arts in our schools is very important, especially as linked to the Core Curricula - science, math, literacy and cultural studies.

As the student were leaving the autotorium several were singing to themselves the "reduce, reuse, recycle" song the had learned during the show.

Paper Making

With help from the Parents As Art Partners organization, PS40 students and their parents met in the cafeteria to learn about paper recycling and how to make paper of our own!








Very cool paper!

Earth Week is a SUCCESS!!!

Earth Week was a huge success!
The TrashMasters! table sold almost all of the 'Super Green Eco-Team' 100% organic cotton t-shirts.

The gently used book sale saw almost as many books go out as came in.


We raised twice the amount needed to plant the 450 trees.



Almost every child and adult who stopped by wrote a note to the earth and clipped it up to the hemp line that ran through our celebration area.

And the colorful reusable bags with the PS40 logo sold like hotcakes. With so many bags sold the checkout people at the supermarket are going to stop being surprised when we say, no thank you to another plastic bag.

Earth Week goes up!!!

The kids worked together to paint the 'Love The Earth' poster;
and we needed the tallest ladder to hang it.

EARTH WEEK!!

HI, If you don't already know, next week, March 3rd-7th, is Earth Week at PS40. There will be tables set up in the cafeteria during 'morning drop of' and 'end of day pick up' all week. 

PLEASE come and check it out. Buy an organic t-shirt designed by Super Green Eco-Daniel, bring us all your plastic bags and we'll take them to Whole foods for recycling and if you can guess how many we will collect you'll win a prize...buy a raffle to win an eco-friendly water bottle, purchase a reusable shopping bag (lots of beautiful colors)- better yet buy some for friends too! They are only $6! Donate your used books and buy some 'new' ones...Write a wish for the planet and get lots and lots and lots of info about what YOU can do to help the planet heal. 

Let's make learning about this fun and do it side by side with our kids, their energy and enthusiasm is awesome and inspiring...! Let's nurture it- for them, for us, for everyone...!

Please come and say hello and have some free coffee!!! 

OH YEA...AND FRIDAY IS 'BASH THE TRASH'

The 100th day of school & recycling!

On Feb. 11, 2008 all grades at PS40 collaborated with Craig Kane, the art teacher, to celebrate the 100th day of school. The Student Council decided on a recycling project which the school is actively practicing this year.

K through fourth grade were asked to bring recyclable objects- empty cereal boxes, aluminum foil, plastic bottles, brown paper bags & paper rolls on the 100th day. 5th graders were asked to bring in tins of food to give to those in need. Throughout the 100th day Craig supervised the building of sculptures made from them.

What was made? A replica of PS40 built from 100 cereal boxes, with the students represented in front by plastic bottles. A teepee structured of cardboard strips and covered with brown paper bags stood behind a man made of toilet and paper towel rolls with a circus dog of aluminum foil!!

It was a satisfying metaphor for the school’s recycling project- in which individual efforts, that might seem insignificant on their own, become something meaningful when combined with the efforts of others.

And this project will itself be recycled to become part of the PS40 bid in the citywide competition for the “Trashmasters! Super Recyclers’ Golden Apple Award” this May.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE…RETHINK!

Class Visits!

This past week, we (Suzie & Michele) visited every classroom at PS40 to talk to the students and teachers about the ‘Trashmasters! Super Recyclers’ contest the school is entering. Wow! What an amazing response we got! We were warmly greeted at every door and by the time we left every student was truly interested and excited about recycling.

We brought with us a large display board to explain what was recyclable. The board was divided into 2 sections --the green side for ‘Paper’ & the blue side for ‘Bottles, Cartons & Cans’-- with the actual papers, water bottles and juice cartons glued onto the board. Our goal was to simplify what they need to know and this visual/tactile guide seemed easiest to follow.

We discussed what couldn’t be recycled: any plastic bottle with a large opening (i.e. yogurt containers) as well as napkins, hand wipes, paper towels and tissues (‘soft paper’). This was a surprise to most students and teachers alike. We later found out that many students have been instructing their families on the rules of recycling as well.

Once we explained what could be recycled, we checked each classroom to be sure they had the appropriate recycling supplies. Most classrooms had only a ‘paper’ recycling bin and a garbage bin. We asked the teachers and students if they needed a ‘bottles, cartons and can’s’ bin as well. Those that did were given one by the end of the week. We discussed the responsibilities of the classroom recycling monitors - at the end of each day they must empty their recycling bins into the large recycling bins at the end of the hall on their floor.

Lastly, we told them about the ‘Super Green Eco Team’, our enthusiastic student team, who serve as ‘inspectors’ for each classroom and showed them the ‘A-OK! Badge’ that would be posted on their door once they passed inspection.

The students had so many questions! ‘Can sandpaper be recycled?’ & ‘Can wood shavings from pencils?’ One class was even assigned recycling research for homework. In the end, they wanted to know what we were going to win (the Golden Apple Award & money) and what would happen if we didn’t win. We explained that there’s always next year and that by learning to recycle now, they would learn the importance of recycling and that would last a lifetime, and that in itself is a win-win situation.