The new restarted SOAR class at Centralia Junior High has received a $500 Touchstone Energy Grant from Tri-County Electric to start a school wide recycling program and learn more about the recycling effort.
Teacher Mike Morris applied for the grant which is designed to develop environmental stewardship among the students.
“We’re restarting our school wide recycling program at the junior high and Central Middle School. Our 7th grade SOAR students will be taking the lead on that project by distributing totes, collect the recyclables. The grant from Tri-County Electric Cornerstone Energy will help pay for us to take field trips to the recycle center. They will go to Country Bob’s to see plastic bottles being made using recyclable materials.”
The grant will also allow students to attend the US Army Corps of Engineers recycling day program in the spring. SOAR members will also design educational materials and presentations for the 4th and 5th grade classrooms in the Central Middle School.
Morris say the goal is to make the project sustainable and ongoing. The SOAR class is made up of gifted and high achieving students at Centralia Junior High.
The 7th grade students will be in charge of the recycling project. They will be collecting paper, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, cardboard and steel cans from each classroom, activity center, cafeteria, and the kitchens at Centralia Junior High School and the Central Middle School.
They will then sort the materials for pickup and recycling at the Centralia Recycling Center, which Morris also heads.
