Pine Island Elementary celebrates Earth Day
Pine Island Elementary has been reinventing many of its procedures in the year of COVID. An example of this is how the school celebrated Earth Day. As the principal, Dr. Millins feels it is important that the school not only provide students a quality education in a safe environment, but also ensure students understand the importance of “special events and days” like Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Veterans Day. Earth Day is, of course, one of the days that should be celebrated.
This year, each class watched a video explaining the importance of Earth Day. The video discussed the origins of the day, its importance, and the impact it has made around the world. P.I.E. teachers provided lessons to support Earth Day with students in their classrooms.
In the past couple of months, the school has started the process of revitalizing various gardens on campus, including the Butterfly and Memorial Gardens. This initiative started with the school’s Beautification Committee, which has involved many staff members to “bring back the campus” in the year of COVID.
Dr. Millins wanted to reiterate the importance of Earth Day and provide the students with a sense of ownership in the day. One way to implement this involvement was to have each class add a plant to the garden. Dr. Millins and the P.I.E. staff thinks it is important that as students walk around campus, they see the beautiful gardens and know they had a part in this effort.
As we move forward for 2021-2022, the school will expand this initiative and assign each grade an area of the school as its responsibility to maintain throughout the school year. It is a plan that not only keeps our school clean and beautiful, but also embodies a sense of pride and ownership with the school.
Pine Island Elementary School is at 5360 Ridgewood Drive, Bokeelia. For more information about the school, please call 239-283-0505.