BROOKLINE – Third-grade students at Richard Maghakian Memorial School welcomed members of the Northeast Resource Recovery Association and its School Club on Nov. 5 to help roll out an exciting initiative.

Through funds secured from the PTO and support from a successful grant application, each third-grade class participated in the “Back to Earth” workshop presented by the club. The workshop focused on implementing a composting program at the school. Teacher Kathleen Milewski organized the workshops.

Students are implementing the program in honor of former environmental education teacher Kathi Bond, who initiated the school’s paper recycling program. A raised bed garden dedicated to Bond, called “The Common Bond Garden,” will eventually be nurtured by the compost generated by food consumption at the school.

RMMS students are learning ways to “Fill the Earth’s Bucket,” and after realizing how much waste is produced in a single day – i.e., lunch and snack – composting seemed like a great way to give back while reducing the school’s waste.

Using an apple to represent Earth, School Club instructor Cindy Sterling demonstrated how little of the Earth’s surface is actually tillable soil, which makes it vital to reduce waste and landfills. After a brief presentation on the compost cycle, she brought out composting worms and described their purpose.

The students were quizzed on compostable items. Several of the students were already experienced with home composting programs.

Once the students master how the program works, they will be tasked with educating the students in kindergarten through second grade on composting and serving as monitors and mentors during grade-specific lunches. Training the younger students will help sustain the program for years.

In addition, the club has offered to run a STAR program for RMMS. The STAR program was developed in conjunction with Antioch University New England. It is a comprehensive evaluation of the school’s recycling and waste reduction efforts.

For more information, visit www.
schoolsrecycling.net.