CALHOUN COUNTY, S.C. — Educators from Calhoun County and across the state are using their green thumbs to plant seeds of environmental impact in their students.
“Every community can benefit from this. We all live on planet earth. We drink the water and breathe the air and we eat food that comes from the soil so these are all things that every students needs to know as life lessons," said SC Green Steps project coordinator Jane Hiller.
They're getting all the right tools with the help of SC Green Steps. This is a program of the Environmental Education Association of South Carolina. The goal is to become inspired about creating projects that would teach their students about environmental practices like recycling, rain barrels, and composting.
The aim is to teach students how to conserve, protect, and restore the environment. This is something educators at St. Matthews K-8 say is already being practiced.
“We have a share table environmental program that we have where we try not to throw away so much food," said educator Tamika Fordham.
She says through this program, unopened food and drink items are shared with other students. They also recycle plastic and nurture a school garden with plants donated from the local gardening club.
“We already see what’s happening to our world which is earth, and in order for us to do our part we gotta start here and educate them.”