WORDEN/EDWARDSVILLE - Worden Elementary School students came together to collect and recycle shoes.
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The school’s Green Earth Club, led by STEM teacher Gretchen Hertz, works hard to complete projects that benefit the environment while giving leadership opportunities to students. Throughout the month of January, students collected 91 pairs of shoes, which will be recycled into new shoes for residents of impoverished countries or turned into playground mulch.
“I think we’re doing good things inside and outside of the school building and inside and outside of the school day,” said Principal Dana Morton.
The Green Earth Club partnered with the Lions Club of Illinois. They collected 91 pairs of “old, yucky, no-longer-used shoes” to be recycled, Morton explained, which keeps the material out of landfills.
Students were encouraged to create newsletters and inform their families about the shoe collection. Green Earth Club members also spoke in front of the entire school during their morning meetings to share information about the club with their peers.
Morton believes these leadership opportunities are incredibly important, even for young kids. She wants to empower the students to pursue leadership in the future.
“When we can put them in front of our building, our own little safe community here with these types of opportunities, then they really kind of shine and go, ‘Oh, wait a minute, maybe I’d like to be a leader. Maybe I can be in charge of something,’” she explained.
Morton noted that the “small but mighty” Worden Elementary School community often comes together in moments like this. The kids work hard to help others, which is an important lesson that Morton hopes to impart on the district’s young students.
Additionally, they have fostered a family atmosphere at Worden. Morton wants the students to know they are supported and can do a lot when they come together.
“We can always do things together,” she said. “We talk about being a family. We talk about that type of thing, but we try to incorporate the kids even in the little things here, because it makes them part of our world. It’s not just teachers and students. It’s us as a whole. It really feeds our climate and culture.”
Students are excited to embark on their next project, and teachers like Hertz and Morton will encourage them every step of the way.
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