By Maggie Blackwell
mblackwell@salisburypost.com
Students at Rowan-Salisbury schools honored their mother this week ó Mother Earth, that is.
In observance of Earth Day, students all around the county participated in events designed to heighten their awareness of the Earth and our care of it.
The “Green Team,” an environmental club at China Grove Middle School, planted two trees on the campus Thursday. Patterson Farms donated a 15-foot maple to the cause. The N.C. Cooperative Extension Service in Rowan County donated a hybrid Crepe Myrtle.
“The trees will provide so much more than shade,” said sixth-grader Michaela Teeter. “They’ll provide oxygen, and they’ll serve as a constant reminder of the first Green Team here at the school.”
The Green Team is sponsored by teachers Lisa Perone and Becky Morris.
“I want to do what I can,” Morris said. “If we all do our share, we can make a difference.”
Since its charter in August 2008, the club has recycled over eight tons of paper, cans and bottles.
Students at Knollwood and China Grove elementary schools created surprises for Food Lion shoppers, decorating paper bags with environmental motifs and returning them to the store to be used.
Danielle Wiles’ art classes at Bostian Elementary decorated T-shirts they already owned, recycling them into new wear. Students wore them on their field trip to Concord Mills to see the movie, “Disney’s Earth.”
Another class at Bostian sorted recyclables and graphed the various categories for a math exercise.
Students at China Grove Middle read, “The Lorax,” by Dr. Seuss, then debated global warming.
Knox Middle School sixth-grade students attended an assembly, where they heard Fred Stewart speak on solar energy.
Michaela Teeter, the sixth-grader at China Grove, summed up her understanding of Earth Day: “Our earth could die. It’s the only one we’ve got. We need to use it wisely.”