Celebrations
Earth Week (2015-2019)
Each year the 4th grade Green Team plans a week of activities to celebrate the Earth. Signs are hung in every grade level and 5th grade reporters inform the entire school of the happenings on the morning announcements. Energy Saver Monday, Paper Free Tuesday, Wear Green Wednesday, Waste Free Lunch Thursday, and Outdoor Learning Friday are just a few of the activities they have planned in this picture. All activities are planned and implemented by the Green Team and Earth 911. The whole school participates and according to many parents, the students carry these great habits into their homes.
Each year the 4th grade Green Team plans a week of activities to celebrate the Earth. Signs are hung in every grade level and 5th grade reporters inform the entire school of the happenings on the morning announcements. Energy Saver Monday, Paper Free Tuesday, Wear Green Wednesday, Waste Free Lunch Thursday, and Outdoor Learning Friday are just a few of the activities they have planned in this picture. All activities are planned and implemented by the Green Team and Earth 911. The whole school participates and according to many parents, the students carry these great habits into their homes.
Waste Free Wednesdays (Weekly Event)
Everyday the morning announcements are presented live by 5th grade broadcasters through the classroom projectors and video system. Each Friday they announce the winning grade for Waste Free Wednesday. This is the grade level that produced the least amount of trash during lunch on the previous Wednesday. When the grade level is announced, loud cheers can be heard through the halls. The winning grade eagerly awaits a visit from Tuffy, our school mascot, and then receives and displays a recycled trophy in their classroom for the week! This weekly celebration is a much anticipated part of the HES Friday morning routine!
National Recycle Day (Annually in November)
In November HES celebrates National Recycle Day! This is a great day to promote how recycling can benefit our Earth. In the past, Alicia Moore, has visited to present gradewide assemblies to review recycling at school and at home, teachers have built instruction around a variety of environmental topics, and the whole school has come together to participate in a project. In 2012, the students showed that "TOGETHER THEY CAN MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE" by building a giant rainbow from recycled toilet tissue rolls. For weeks, rolls were collected in different colors until finally, on National Recycle Day, the rolls were turned into an enormous rainbow. "Oohs" and "Aahs" could be heard as the students looked at the final creation. Hammond Elementary School was even spotlighted in UPDATE, on November 26, 2012, celebrating with the county that HES continues its green efforts.
Release of the Butterflies : A Celebration of Flight
(Annual Event) (2012-2019)
As our second graders prepare to be released into third grade, so are our butterflies ready to to be released into their environment. Each spring the second grade students observe the life cycle of a butterfly. They also learn the characteristics of an insect and why they are beneficial to our environment. After the butterflies mature, the school celebrates the release of the butterflies into the butterfly garden. This is always an exciting day for the students at Hammond since they have spent weeks watching the butterflies mature and emerge into beautiful butterflies. After the release, they continue to identify the butterflies in our community, hoping to see the painted ladies that they raised.
Earth Day Celebrations (Annually in April)
This year the Hammond Environmental Student Clubs worked hard to plan and prepare for the Earth Day Celebration that took place on April 22nd. Below are a few highlights from the day.
Morning Announcements: Our Morning Announcement Crew started Earth Day with a bang! Environmental facts and daily environmental news were shared all week.
Greenewit Assemblies (K-2 and 3-5): 9:15 - 11:15 (See Operation Design)
GreeNEWit presented exciting and engaging assemblies to teach our students and staff about energy conservation. Sign spinning, powerpoints, talking mascots, prizes, and sing alongs made learning about energy conservation a blast!
Breakfast Bookmarks: Several students came up with the idea of making bookmarks from breakfast cereal boxes. They thought cereal boxes were colorful and made of sturdy cardboard. They collected boxes and asked for donations of ribbons. Next, they cut out the bookmarks, punched holes, and embellished with ribbons. Quickly the bookmarks started to accumulate until they decided to make it their goal to create one for every student in the school. What a challenge, but our persistent students worked hard and achieved their goal. They made over 600 bookmarks! They were very excited to give these delightful bookmarks as gifts on Earth Day!
Bottle Cap Mural Unveiling: As a whole school initiative, bottle caps of all colors and shapes were collected. Collection containers were placed around the school by the Green Team. Caps were then clean and sorted by color. Meanwhile, a father cut and painted a 6 foot by 4 foot piece of wood and students designed a mural. The mural was then traced onto the wood, painted with acrylics, and covered with thousands of colorful bottlecaps. The mural will be unveiled to the school on Enrichment Fair Day. The students truly enjoy recycling trash into art! The mural will hang for years in HES and remind students that every small act of kindness for the Earth can add up to make an amazing difference!
Breakout Classroom Activities: Lesson plans and supplies were provided by GreeNEWit to be used in the classrooms. Activities on wind and solar energy will be taught using hands-on activities. (See Operation and Design)
Waste-Free Lunch: Trash was weighed at all lunch shifts! This year, 2013, the second grade students' had the smallest amount of trash weighing just 2.3 pounds. "Weigh" to go Second Grade!
Earth Day Book Display: Our media specialists were excited to make an exciting display of environmental books for students to select from during media class!
Book Drive: Students brought in gently used books, clothes, toys, and shoes to donate to Planet Aid. What a great way to reuse!
The Lorax: On Earth Day the staff and students were surprised when they noticed the Lorax hiding all through the school. In 20 different spots, the Lorax could be seen holding signs and sharing facts about trees. The front of the school was filled with truffula trees and everyone stopped for 30 minutes at the end of the day to watch The Lorax. Wonderful parent volunteers created a fun bulletin board to display student work from this special day!
HES loves a special event, especially Earth Day, when the students celebrate a full day of fun learning about protecting our earth.
Morning Announcements: Our Morning Announcement Crew started Earth Day with a bang! Environmental facts and daily environmental news were shared all week.
Greenewit Assemblies (K-2 and 3-5): 9:15 - 11:15 (See Operation Design)
GreeNEWit presented exciting and engaging assemblies to teach our students and staff about energy conservation. Sign spinning, powerpoints, talking mascots, prizes, and sing alongs made learning about energy conservation a blast!
Breakfast Bookmarks: Several students came up with the idea of making bookmarks from breakfast cereal boxes. They thought cereal boxes were colorful and made of sturdy cardboard. They collected boxes and asked for donations of ribbons. Next, they cut out the bookmarks, punched holes, and embellished with ribbons. Quickly the bookmarks started to accumulate until they decided to make it their goal to create one for every student in the school. What a challenge, but our persistent students worked hard and achieved their goal. They made over 600 bookmarks! They were very excited to give these delightful bookmarks as gifts on Earth Day!
Bottle Cap Mural Unveiling: As a whole school initiative, bottle caps of all colors and shapes were collected. Collection containers were placed around the school by the Green Team. Caps were then clean and sorted by color. Meanwhile, a father cut and painted a 6 foot by 4 foot piece of wood and students designed a mural. The mural was then traced onto the wood, painted with acrylics, and covered with thousands of colorful bottlecaps. The mural will be unveiled to the school on Enrichment Fair Day. The students truly enjoy recycling trash into art! The mural will hang for years in HES and remind students that every small act of kindness for the Earth can add up to make an amazing difference!
Breakout Classroom Activities: Lesson plans and supplies were provided by GreeNEWit to be used in the classrooms. Activities on wind and solar energy will be taught using hands-on activities. (See Operation and Design)
Waste-Free Lunch: Trash was weighed at all lunch shifts! This year, 2013, the second grade students' had the smallest amount of trash weighing just 2.3 pounds. "Weigh" to go Second Grade!
Earth Day Book Display: Our media specialists were excited to make an exciting display of environmental books for students to select from during media class!
Book Drive: Students brought in gently used books, clothes, toys, and shoes to donate to Planet Aid. What a great way to reuse!
The Lorax: On Earth Day the staff and students were surprised when they noticed the Lorax hiding all through the school. In 20 different spots, the Lorax could be seen holding signs and sharing facts about trees. The front of the school was filled with truffula trees and everyone stopped for 30 minutes at the end of the day to watch The Lorax. Wonderful parent volunteers created a fun bulletin board to display student work from this special day!
HES loves a special event, especially Earth Day, when the students celebrate a full day of fun learning about protecting our earth.