Students, community come together to preach environmental awareness

By RYAN HUTCHINS
Contributing Writer

April 28, 2008 04:00 am

— PLATTSBURGH -- The students were the teachers at the second-ever Environmental Awareness Fair at Champlain Centre mall Sunday.
Their information booths were scattered throughout the building. Elementary students from the City of Plattsburgh were armed with facts and figures about environmental issues, from global warming to deforestation.
Olivia Keever warned passersby that the polar ice cap is disappearing.
"It would most likely give us major flooding if Antarctica melted," said Keever, a fifth-grader from Oak Street Elementary.
Like others in her class, Keever spent several weeks piecing together a poster for the fair.
The two-hour event was organized by the Champlain Valley Family Center's Learn and Serve America Program, the League of Women Voters and the Girl Scouts. It opened with comments from Town of Plattsburgh Supervisor Bernie Bassett and City of Plattsburgh Mayor Donald Kasprzak.
Local poet John Cochran, joined by youth from the Unitarian Fellowship in Plattsburgh, presented an interactive dance about the environment and what it provides for the community.
"The trees make it possible "¦" was one theme of the dance, which highlighted how trees have allowed for many worldly creations, like televisions, buildings and toys.
It seemed that connecting the environmental issues to tangible, everyday possessions helped raise the interest levels of some students.
For Josh Boise, also of Oak Street Elementary, losing trees would mean losing some important tools.
"That means no more skateboards, no more hockey sticks," said Boise, standing in front of a "Fun Tree Facts" poster that he created with classmates Devin Clarke and Anna Baxley.
Their poster highlighted reasons for planting trees and explained what trees are "good for."
Arthur P. Momot Elementary School fourth-grader Ashley Sharp did her project on how everyone can help save the earth.
"No matter how big or small you are, you can help," read her poster.
She assembled her project with the help of several friends and Meaghan Moffitt, a Plattsburgh State education major who mentors Sharp.
Moffitt and Sharp gave out handmade bookmarks featuring various slogans promoting environmental awareness and action.
"Plant it forward," read one. "I love Earth," proclaimed another.
The fair, which was held for the first time last year, was scheduled to coincide with Global Youth Awareness Day and Earth Day.

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