TERRE HAUTE — A recycling and trash education program for Honey Creek Middle School students, which was started by Indiana State University industrial technology education students and their professor, has received a Wabash Valley Community Foundation grant and is being expanded to include the other area middle schools.
Project LITTER, now in its second year, stands for Less-Inappropriate-Trash-Through-Education-and-Recycling. ISU students in the project are not only getting local kids excited about reducing the trash that is going to landfills and being dumped on city streets; but showing them ways they can take action, such as the trash pick-up scheduled for this Saturday, according to Cory Goebel, a sophomore technology education major from Evansville.
“If you don’t get students interested in what you’re talking about, they won’t want to do it,” Goebel said. “So to teach them about recycling, the other students and I came up with some hands-on activities.”
During one lesson, the students made bead necklaces using old magazines and string; while another activity involved mapping the recycling locations in the Terre Haute area and identifying which items each site collects.
The four-week class wraps up this week with a school-wide Paper Recycling Drive at Honey Creek from April 23-26. ISU’s Recycling Center is providing bins for the school’s week-long effort.
The grand finale is the ultimate hands-on activity — a trash clean-up day from 9-11 a.m. on Saturday at Fairbanks Park. To put their learning into action, the Honey Creek students in Ken Amos’ industrial technology class who have been participating in Project L.I.T.T.E.R. created Paper Recycling Week awareness posters, and will be picking up trash with their ISU student-mentors on Saturday.
After receiving requests from other middle schools, Davison Mupinga, ISU associate professor of industrial technology education and founder of Project L.I.T.T.E.R., approached the Wabash Valley Community Foundation to ask for help expanding the program.
“The funding from the Community Foundation will allow us to bring the program into the other middle schools and help us purchase enough instructional materials and T-shirts for the students to wear so they stand out while they’re picking up litter,” Mupinga said. “It also will cover any transportation costs, as well as fun incentives like pizza and cookies for the group that recycles the most.”
Project L.I.T.T.E.R. achieves several important goals for his students, Mupinga says.
“Most of the students in my classes are going to be teachers,” he said, “so a project like this gives them experience working with kids on a more informal basis, yet in a school setting. They are learning how to create and implement curriculum that the kids can grasp and also enjoy.”
He hopes that the college students also can serve as positive role models for the youths.
“I want the middle school students to see that older kids care about them, and all the benefits you get by going to college,” Mupinga said.
Contributing to a cleaner and more beautiful Terre Haute is the other goal which Mupinga feels strongly about.
“Some people are just not aware that what they’re doing, in terms of inappropriate trash, is harmful, so we need to spread the word about appropriate ways to deal with trash, and what better way than to educate the youth – our future citizens?” he said.
The event will take place this Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. at Fairbanks Park.
To find out more about Project L.I.T.T.E.R., visit litter.andyhoffman.org.
Schools
ISU program gets students excited about recycling
- Schools
-
-
Valley educators cautious on Indiana’s ‘No Child’ waiver
Indiana is one of 10 states to receive a waiver from federal No Child Left Behind requirements.
-
Driver dies after Illinois school bus crash
“Brace yourself. Brace yourself,” Fay Pickering shouted to her students just before the school bus she was driving crossed U.S. 40 and landed in a ditch Thursday morning.
-
Official: Indiana among first 10 states to get ed waiver
President Barack Obama today will free 10 states from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, giving leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students, The Associated Press has learned.
-
Letters from Debs
Cinda May sat with the phone to her ear listening as the auctioneer in New York City said “Holding, holding.”
-
ISU presents Sycamore Hoopla; activities kick off Friday
Indiana State University’s Hulman Center will host its sixth annual Sycamore Hoopla Friday and Saturday.
-
BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: This little-known compromise may have saved the union
When the Constitution was signed in September of 1787 and sent to the Congress that then existed under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was instructed to send that Constitution to the states to be ratified … or not. The message to the states was clear: Accept the Constitution or reject it, but don’t try to change it.
-
College plans Prom Expo on Feb. 19
Get the scoop on the latest in prom fashions and services during Lincoln Trail College’s Prom Expo Feb. 19.
-
ISU offering tech ed scholarships to VU grads
Indiana State University is offering $1,000 scholarships for graduates of Vincennes University’s technology programs to pursue their bachelor’s degree.
-
Fort Harrison State Park to host winter wildlife workshop
Our culture’s most celebrated survivalists are often men with an accent, a trusty knife, and a tagalong camera crew filming their every move.
-
Riverton Parke's winter king and queen
Seniors Gary Secuskie and Taylor Mansinne were named King and Queen of the Riverton Parke Winter 2012 Homecoming.
-
Four alumni receive GOLD awards from Indiana State University
A former collegiate football standout and a trio known for selling humorous holiday apparel received the Indiana State University Alumni Association’s Graduate of the Last Decade Award this year.
-
Indiana State students hear view from Cuba
Carlos Alzugaray, who spent 40 years representing the Cuban government around the world, wishes NBC newsman Brian Williams had asked a different question during a recent Republican presidential debate in Jacksonville, Fla.
-
College to celebrate homecoming
Lincoln Trail College will celebrate homecoming on Feb. 18.
- Goals, Pride & Achievements: Feb. 9, 2012
-
Valley middle schoolers ready for MATHCOUNTS
Weeks of early-morning and after-school problem-solving sessions for about 100 Wabash Valley middle school students will culminate on Saturday in the regional MATHCOUNTS competition at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
-
Indiana State education major takes teaching to Siberia
Christin Keirn wanted a challenge and she does enjoy winter. So for her, it seemed an obvious choice.
-
Lincoln Trail College honors
Lincoln Trail College has released its academic honor lists for the Fall 2011 semester.
- ACROSS THE WABASH VALLEY: Feb. 9, 2012
-
Vigo schools see grad rate rise
The Vigo County School Corp. 2011 graduation rate improved nearly 4 percentage points and surpassed the state graduation rate, according to information from the state Department of Education.
-
Rose-Hulman to help address need for advancing railroad technologies
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is stepping back into its past and addressing a need to advance the nation’s transportation system by educating the next generation of railroad engineers.
Chauncey Rose, an entrepreneur and builder of railroads, came to western Indiana in 1817. -
Take the Plunge for Special Olympics on Feb. 11 at ISU
Join Mayor Duke Bennett, Indiana State University Police Chief Bill Mercier, Terre Haute and ISU Police departments, GFS Marketplace, Mix-FM, the men of Pi Kappa Alpha and the ladies of Alpha Sigma Alpha at the Fourth Annual Terre Haute Polar Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Indiana on Feb. 11.
-
Valley woman’s recipe featured by Taste of Home
Taste of Home magazine has honored a Riverton Parke Jr.-Sr. High School Foods Services employee for her recipe.
-
College Goal Sunday set for Feb. 12 at Ivy Tech
Financial aid professionals will be volunteering at Ivy Tech Community College in Terre Haute and 39 other Indiana sites to help college-bound students and their families open the door to financial aid during College Goal Sunday, set for 2 p.m. Feb. 12.
-
College to offer aeronautics classes at Robinson airport
Lincoln Trail College is flying high this spring with two aeronautics classes taught at the Robinson (Ill.) Community Airport.
-
Agreement to further college’s international initiatives
Harrison College, a private sector college serving 6,000 students at 12 campuses in Indiana and Ohio as well as online, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Siva Sivani Institute of Management in Hyderabad, India.
-
Otter Creek Middle School to celebrate 50 years
Otter Creek Middle School turns 50 years old this year. In 1962, the newly formed Vigo County School Corp. opened the current Otter Creek Middle School as Otter Creek Junior High School.
-
College savings campaign kicks off statewide
Students in Clay, Parke, Putnam, Sullivan, Vermillion and Vigo counties are joining students across Indiana to launch Learn More Indiana’s 2012 Cash for College campaign this week.
Eighty percent of students who attend college receive financial aid.
- Goals, Pride & Achievements: Feb. 2, 2012
-
BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Freedom of religion — beliefs and actions
Because religious faith is, arguably, the quintessential example of our right to privacy, to say nothing of its prominent place in our First Amendment, throughout our history court cases involving the free exercise of religion have been handled with great trepidation and with particular care. One of the milestone “free exercise” religion cases, Davis v. Beason, was decided by the Supreme Court this week (Feb. 3) in 1890.
- Across the Wabash Valley: Feb. 2, 2012
- More Schools Headlines
-
Valley educators cautious on Indiana’s ‘No Child’ waiver
Raw Video: Greek Rioting Ahead of Austerity Vote
Coroner: Houston Autopsy Results Weeks Away
Greece Passes New Austerity Deal Amid Rioting
Nordic Festival Puts North Korea in Spotlight
Pop Music Superstar Whitney Houston Dies at 48
Raw Video: Child Rescued After Kosovo Avalanche
Whitney Houston's Church Mourns Her Passing
Reaction to Houston's Death at Clive Davis Party
Raw Video: Whitney Houston's Last Performance
'Rumor Has It' Adele's Rolling in the Grammys
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
Severe Cold Wreaks Havoc in China
Fans 'Speechless' Over Houston's Death
Snow Strands Italian Towns
Fuel Removal Under Way on Capsized Italian Ship
79 Turtles Seized at Shanghai Airport
Grohl, Grammy Nominees Cut Up on the Red Carpet
Video of M.I.A's Obscene Halftime Gesture
Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
And the Winner for Best Super Bowl Ad Is...
Turkey's first face transplant
Adele's revealing "60 Minutes" interview
Obama Unveils $3.8 Trillion Budget
Bobby Brown on Houston's Death
Exclusive Video: Bobbi Kristina Leaving Hospital
Lusetich: AT&T Recap
'Bachelor' Free Falls into the Ocean
Raw Video: Aurora Borealis As Seen From Space
Grammys 2012: Highlights
2.12: Pebble Beach Pro-Am -- Phil Mickelson
2012 Grammys: Rihanna
2012 Grammys: Taylor Swift
Exclusive Video - Whitney's Bodybag
FUEL TV: Punk Payback Gym tips
Whitney's Final Days - EXCLUSIVE
Romney Tops Santorum in CPAC Straw Poll
First glimpse of Blue Ivy Carter
Angry Dad Shoots Teens Laptop
