News
Second Grade Students Take Action
Second graders have been deeply engaged in a powerful unit on activism. They’ve focused on environmental activism, reading The Great Lakes: Freshwater Treasures by Barb Rosenstock, and reflected upon how they can care for the local environment. Rosenstock has lived near Chicago her entire life, and she emphasizes the importance of the Great Lakes as a valuable treasure.
Inspired by their learning and discussions, 2nd graders decided they wanted to take action! They agreed that protecting the community and educating others is important, and together they planned an exciting initiative: a beach cleanup! Teachers partnered with the Alliance for the Great Lakes to organize a private beach cleanup for their 2nd grade classes. During the trip, students learned about beach safety, their role in environmental activism and ways to document the trash they collected.
When they returned to school, students counted up their tallies and entered the data into the Alliance for the Great Lakes database.
Students shared their thoughts about the experience:
- “The field trip went well because we helped pick up trash to help the environment. I think that we should continue to organize beach cleanups in the coming years.” -Olivia
- “I liked that we got to pick up trash to make the beach clean and we were taking action to clean up the whole beach. It felt good to clean up the beach.” -Matthew
- “We were helping the animals so that they don't get sick from the trash.” -Cece
- “The field trip was amazing because we stopped some of the trash from going into Lake Michigan.” - Lola
- “I'm glad that we got out to do something for the animals and the community.” -Vicky
Enjoy photos from the experience here or in some videos created by students below.
Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.