Feeding the Animals

Best Practices in School Culture Leadership (October 2006)

Tim Bell, principal
Five Hawks Elementary, Prior Lake

Ever wonder what to do to increase your recycling efforts? At Five Hawks Elementary we faced that challenge from our students. We had already greatly reduced the amount of paper, plastic, glass, and cardboard we were sending to the landfill; we had started the “use both sides” campaign; and the students still wanted more!

The teachers and students of our Junior Naturalist program began with some research about how the students at Harriet Beecher Stowe in Duluth produced worms with their food waste. Teachers made a trip to Falcon Heights to see how they managed to recycle food, and did some online study to find reasonable ways we might attack the problem. What was decided? Let’s feed the pigs!

A few phone calls, some expert advice, and a strong desire to make the radical change from “just throw it away” to “save it for the animals” has been very successful. So much so, that we have at least four schools in our district (and more just waiting to get going) feeding the pigs and starving the landfills! We have taught saving the environment for ages, but now we are practicing what we teach.

Our efforts at organizing and making the program work were a direct result of students and teachers working together to make a significant change in our daily routines. The initiative came from the grassroots – from the people who had the desire to change and were supported from almost all levels of the school district. The credit goes to the idea generators who would not be discouraged and were encouraged to find ways to make it work for them.

There are many partners who are willing to help – the county extension offices can offer you a starting point, and we found they had some dollars to help get us going. You don’t have to do it alone!