Having taken the entire summer off from teaching last year, I was left with a little extra down time. Okay, a lot of extra down time. For someone who is used to spending five days a week up and down and all around with two rowdy groups of four and five year olds, this became a bit of a problem. I started trying to find things to fill my time. Because of this, I found myself at the local library...a lot. Whether it was the warm weather, or the lack of events I had going on, I began to feel an itch to do something productive. I had for awhile considered myself to be "semi-green" and had always wanted to educate myself more on this movement. I started by checking out a book at the library about a woman who challenged herself to make an eco-friendly lifestyle change everyday for a year. This got me thinking...how can I challenge myself and my students to be more aware?

I decided I would teach them how to be little Earth warriors who recycled and composted, and told others about their eco-efforts. Starting at the end of March we did just that. The kids loved it! We now have our very own worm compost as well as sorted recycle bins and a vegetable garden. As wonderfully educational this project was for the students as well as the teachers, I still have not satisfied that itch I spoke of earlier. And now, it has slowly turned into a small, nagging tug at my will. Teaching children to love and respect the Earth is not only smart but necessary. But, what good is that life lesson, if you don't know how to love and respect all of the people that make up the Earth? Sometimes...often, we get so lost inside our own struggles and misfortunes that we forget how much worse it could be and is for many. My students do not come from the wealthiest families. I want to help them understand that misfortune is (a)is happening all around them, (b)can be changed, and (c)doesn't have to be done alone. If they can make a difference in one child's life, from halfway across the world, then they can make a difference in their own lives right here in our school. I want them to give themselves a chance by giving a chance to another.