Students involved in Tracy High recycling program
Rudy Galindo, Lucia Costa aide to Life Skills teacher Diana Wing, and Naomi Beasley sort out the plastic bottles from cans in the D building as part of the recycling program.
November 21, 2014
Tracy High’s recycling program started eight years ago with the students coming up with the idea in the Earth Club.
Involvement then spread out to the students in the Life Skills class and other science classes. Science teachers Dean Reese and Ken Wedel, and Life Skills teacher Diana Wing supported the idea and took charge of the program.
Having the recycling program opened up to my class was a good opportunity for my students to become involved,
— Diana Wing
Christina Frankel, local architect, helped obtain $15,000 in grant money to help build the recycling program.
To make this happen, the teachers contacted the Tracy Delta Disposal, so there was a place to recycle all of the cans, plastic bottles, and paper.
To get recycling started, Tracy Delta Disposal donated blue bins for Tracy High’s recycling program. At first, the plastic bottles and cans would get stolen from the bins, so they stopped opening up that option of recycling and continued with only paper.
To solve the plastic bottles and cans problem, they ordered x-framed bins from a company called Clear Stream.
“The small blue bins for the paper are still in use, but having the x-framed bins really helped,” Reese said.
Student Activities Director Alayna Carter also pitched in by sharing the steel storage boxes to place all the recycling objects in. The recyclables in the boxes would then be transferred to Tracy Delta Disposal.
Money made from the recycling program is divided between the science department and the Life Skills class. The science department has been able to purchase helpful items.
“We were able to buy three laptops for our science classes,” Reese said.
The Life Skills class has also used the extra money for items.
“The money we get goes into buying classroom supplies,” Wing said.
The students involved in the program usually recycle on Friday or Monday. The buildings that they are in charge of depend on the teacher they have. Reese’s students usually recycle after football games and other after school events. Wedel’s students take care of the A, E, and F buildings. Wing’s Life Skills class takes care in the D building and cafeteria.
All the sweat and hard work that goes into this program goes a long way. The money collected benefits the students and teachers involved in the program. Now, not only the money is important to helping the recycling program expand, but it’s mostly the students’ involvement.
