PRIDE Recognition 2009
Pulaski County “Gifted GO Green” was chosen as the PRIDE Project of the Month. The program was awarded a plaque and a $ 1,500.00 check from the Pulaski County Recycling Center.
Mr. Tim
Eaton receives the plaque from Congressman Hal Rogers.
Congressman Rogers thanks
4th graders for public outreach.
In the front row, the 4th graders are Brandon Bunch, NES; Austin Ritter, OHES; Jeremy Strunk ,BES; Kyra LaRue, SHES; Koby Hargis, PES; Christian Long, EES; and Allie Patrick, SES. Nicholas Cable, WES, attended but is not pictured. In the second row are PRIDE liaison Elizabeth Morrow and Pulaski County School System’s Lynn Ashbrook and Cindy Merrick. In the back row are Wal-Mart’s Ron Hall, Sheila Hansford and Allen Adcock; Assistant Superintendent Steve Butcher; Congressman Hal Rogers; Superintendent Tim Eaton; and Mardi Montgomery.
SOMERSET, KY — For one month, local fourth-graders educated Wal-Mart shoppers about the environment. Congressman Hal Rogers rewarded their efforts with the region’s PRIDE Environmental Education Project of the Month Award.
“I want to thank these students for their vision and leadership,” said Rogers, who founded the PRIDE organization. “They want a cleaner environment, and they’re not going to wait for someone else to deliver it. They decided to make a difference now. They found a way to show as many people as possible how important and simple it is to care for the environment. Let’s follow their lead.”
From Feb. 27 until March 20, the Pulaski County School System’s gifted fourth-graders made 12 public presentations at Wal-Mart about the importance of recycling, the effects of plastic on the environment and the benefits of using eco-friendly shopping bags. Their display table remained at the front of the store for Wal-Mart shoppers to visit throughout the month.
The “Gifted Go Green!” project involved 180 gifted fourth-graders from Burnside, Eubank, Nancy, Oak Hill, Pulaski, Shopville and Southern Elementary Schools. They set out to inspire positive environmental awareness in their community. Their goals included decreasing the community’s carbon footprint and improving energy savings.
The students created exhibit boards and brochures to bring their message to life for Wal-Mart shoppers. To develop their presentations, students participated in small-group research with PRIDE representatives. They also visited the Pulaski County Recycling Center.
This unique outreach project was made possible by a Wal-Mart grant secured by Mardi Montgomery, the Pulaski County School Board’s Director of Special Programs, in collaboration with Lynn Ashbrook and Cindy Merrick, co-directors of the Pulaski Gifted Center. The $30,000 grant was used for several other projects, such as the Ring the Bell for Literacy Project.
The Pulaski Gifted Center brings together the gifted fourth and fifth graders from Pulaski County School System’s eight elementary schools. In biweekly rotations, the students experience hands-on lessons in science, technology, engineering and math.
For hands-on environmental lessons this year, the center turned to the PRIDE Environmental Outreach Program, which helps third, fourth and fifth-graders prepare for state science tests, as well as lifetime environmental stewardship. The program is available to Pulaski County, Somerset and Science Hill Schools through a partnership with the Pulaski County Fiscal Court.
The PRIDE Environmental Education Project of the Month program rewards creative, effective ways of showing students why and how to care for the environment. It is presented by Eastern Kentucky PRIDE, a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental cleanup and education efforts in 38 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky.
For more information about PRIDE, please visit www.kypride.org or call the PRIDE office, toll free, at 888-577-4339.