Youth take on recycling with DFC

SANDPOINT — Washington Elementary sixth-graders have taken on recycling in their Design for Change efforts, starting with a program in their school and hopeful of educating the broader community as well.

“They were looking at global goals for life on land and life on water, so they really narrowed it down to plastic use — that is what really struck them,” said Ann Dickinson, Washington sixth-grade teacher in charge of the DFC program. “It’s been a great project this year, a great group of kids.”

The students have implemented a recycling program at the school, primarily for plastic, Dickinson said, but also for cardboard and other recyclables.

This year’s group is getting a little extra help as well, through the recently chartered Sandpoint Rotaract Club. The club’s president Molly Rickard, vice president Ben Murray and secretary Cami Murray have been helping with fundraising, brainstorming and implementing the recycling program at the school.

While the club has existed unofficially for about a year, they were chartered in January and currently consists of nine members ranging in age from 21 to 25, Rickard said.

“We are just looking to give back to the community in whatever ways come across our plate,” Rickard said.

The group got involved with the DFC kids after Jeralyn Mire, postsecondary counselor at Sandpoint High School, connected Rickard with Dickinson. Ben Murray said as Rotaract was getting started, they were looking for projects that were already underway.

“We didn’t want to jump in and start something new when there were a bunch of things that probably still needed some help,” he said.

The trio has a special connection to the school as well, as all three are Washington alumni.

“So it’s especially cool to be able to give back to the community in a place that we actually got to be in for our education,” Ben Murray said.

The main thing they have been helping out with as far as DFC is the fundraising. Dickinson said they raised enough money to get either another recycle bin at Washington, or see if there is another school in the district that wants to start recycling. The Rotaract group also helped the kids prepare a PowerPoint presentation, which the club then used during their charter ceremony as well.

“We have also connected them to other community members, kind of helped them brainstorm who already exists in our community that might be able to assist them,” Rickard said.

Ben Murray said because of their age group, they want to focus on mentorship. The Rotaract members are younger than some of the adults the kids interact with, he said, so they are able to serve as a bridge between the younger and the older generations.

Cami Murray said the role of adults, really, is to be able to facilitate the kids’ ideas.

“The whole point of Design for Change is teaching them that they have the power to make change in their community, so just being available as a resource to say, ‘Yeah, that is a good idea,’ that can be incredibly valuable to validate their plans,” Cami Murray said.

The DFC kids planned and held an assembly at the school as the recycling program got underway in order to educate their classmates about what it is, how it works and why it is important. Their next effort will be on a larger scale as they will address the community during an Earth Day celebration at Farmin Park on April 20.

“They really want to educate people about the alternatives to the disposable plastics, so that is what they are hoping to do at the Earth Day celebration,” Dickinson said.

In addition to helping the DFC kids, the Rotaract Club has another event coming up as they will host a family fun ride during the Sandpoint Rotary Club’s CHAFE 150 bike ride in June. The family fun ride will be a shorter ride from City Beach to Dover, geared toward families with younger children. CHAFE proceeds benefit the Lake Pend Oreille School District, and this year’s funds will go toward literacy programs.

The Rotaract Club is accepting new members and anyone interested who is in the age range should email rotaractsandpoint@gmail.com for information. The group generally meets at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Pend d’Oreille Winery.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.