Mendenhall, Christie Elementaries Earn Recycling Awards from City

November 17, 2006

Two Plano ISD elementary schools captured City of Plano recycling awards recently. Mendenhall Elementary and Christie Elementary schools are keeping Plano beautiful with innovative programs. Read on about each of award-winning these programs, and follow this link to view a Plano Television Network television segment "Two kids' schools..."

'Returning the Warmth' at Mendenhall

Keeping kids warm is certainly a great reason to recycle, and Mendenhall Elementary School in Plano embraced this idea in a big way. Mendenhall collected more than 3,000 pounds of #1 PET plastic bottles this spring to receive recognition from Keep America Beautiful as one of the top 50 collecting schools in the nation. Mendenhall will receive a $1,000 grant in the form of a gift card from Sam’s Club, one of the sponsors of the “Return the Warmth” contest, and several fleece jackets for children who need a warm winter coat.

“The #1 PET plastic, primarily water and soda bottles, collected during the contest will become fleece jackets through the recycling process,” explained Glenna Brown, City of Plano Recycling Education Coordinator. “Aquafina, another sponsor of the program, and Sam’s Club will provide thousands of fleece jackets to the top winning schools. Those jackets will ‘Return the Warmth’ to deserving children long after the contest has ended.”

Molly Pond, third grade teacher, and Ms. Brown organized the recycling drive and placed special collection bins throughout the school to encourage the students to collect the bottles for several weeks. In additional to bringing their water bottles and soda bottles to school every day for recycling, several groups of kids organized weekend collections and also brought in those bottles. The students collected the bags filled with bottles daily throughout the school and set them out for Allied Waste to take to their recycling facility. “Student, faculty and parent involvement ensure the success of this project,” acknowledged Ms. Brown.

Mendenhall principal Karen Noble noted, “This contest was fun for the kids. They really got excited about it and will be thrilled to learn they have been so successful. This is a win-win for our school not only because we won, but also because we are encouraging good recycling habits at school and at home.”

Christie Elementary - 'Recycle to Read'

Recycling and reading go hand in hand at Christie Elementary School in Plano. The school won a $500 prize for the "Recycle to Read" summer recycling contest, sponsored by the City of Plano's Sustainability and Environmental Services Department.

"We will award the prize to the school's library program to purchase additional books and encourage even more reading," according to Glenna Brown, the City's Recycling Education Coordinator.

The neighborhoods surrounding Christie recycled more than 217 tons of materials in June, July and August through the City's residential recycling program to win the city-sponsored "Recycle to Read" contest. The contest was open to all PISD elementary schools.

"The contest was designed to encourage families to continue their good recycling habits during the summer months, when we traditionally see a drop in recycling rates. This year, we saw a 9% increase during July, and we attribute that increase, in part, to our partnership with the schools, who helped spread the word about the contest," Brown explained.