Education Commissioner Notes Significance of Earth Day 2015

22 Apr,2015

Education Commissioner Notes Significance of Earth Day 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 21, 2015 Contact: Karen Gutloff                                                                          Director of Public Relations                                                                   (340) 774-0100 x 8136                                                                          <a href="mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.</a>                                                                                      Anthony Mills Public Relations Specialist/Writer <a href="mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.</a>     Over 700 Students to Participate in 2-Day EcoFair on St. Croix   Earth Day will be celebrated throughout the nation on Wednesday, April 22, 2015, and Commissioner designee of Education Sharon McCollum is encouraging schools in the territory to take the lead and schedule activities that teach students to respect their natural environment.    “Earth Day is important because it reminds us to modify our consumption practices to conserve natural resources, and it teaches us how to preserve our environment – the Earth,” Commissioner McCollum said. “This is one approach to ensuring a greener, cleaner and healthier environment for our children to live and work in.”  The theme for the observance of Earth Day 2015 is, “It’s Our Turn to Lead.”    <o:p></o:p>   Meanwhile public, private and parochial schools on St. Croix will be sending classes of students to participate in the 22nd Annual Earth Day EcoFair and the Seventh Annual Litter Stomp conducted by the St. Croix Environmental Association (SEA). <o:p></o:p>        In sanctioning the participation of students in the Earth Day activities at schools and at the EcoFair, St. Croix Superintendent of School Colleen Williams said, “Our Earth is precious, and we must do everything in our power to sustain our world.  Earth Day 2015 is our opportunity to continue to teach and highlight for our children the importance of reducing our everyday practices that harm our planet.”  About 700 students in the school district in grades three (3) to six (6) are expected to participate in the Earth Day activities.<o:p></o:p>       Eco-Fair activities sponsored by the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) begin at 8:30 a.m. at the St. George Village Botanical Garden on Wednesday, April 22 for third (3rd) and fourth (4th) grade students.    “The purpose of the EcoFair is to teach basic environmental science concepts through activities and provide information about protecting our local ecosystem,” according to SEA Environmental Education Coordinator Rebekka Stone. <o:p></o:p>   Third and 4th graders have also registered to participate in the Litter Stomp, presented by the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority (VIWMA) on Wednesday.  “The Stomp is an opportunity for schools to show their support of community efforts to stop roadside litter,” says Charmin Springer of VIWMA.  “Students will “stomp” from the Sunshine Mall parking lot to the Botanical Garden, about one mile, to demonstrate to the St. Croix community that students have zero tolerance for litter and litter offenders.” Eco-Fair activities will continue at the Botanical Garden on Thursday, April 23 for fifth (5th) and sixth (6th) graders. <o:p></o:p> Over 40 teachers will bring students to the EcoFair from Alfredo Andrews, Claude O. Markoe, Eulalie Rivera, Evelyn M. Williams, Lew Muckle, and Pearl B. Larsen elementary schools, and the AZ Academy, Church of God Holiness Academy, Good Hope Country Day and Seventh Day Adventist School. <o:p></o:p>      Students will choose from over 20 activities presented by the  Caribbean Oceanic Restoration and Education Foundation, Department of Planning and Natural Resources-DEP, Jazzy Blue Band, the National Park Service, Seven Seas Water, the St. Croix Environmental Association, St. George Village Botanical Garden, University of the Virgin Islands-CES and  University of the Virgin Islands-CMES-VIMAS.  Students will also hear from Ras Lamamba, Veronica Gordon, V.I. Public Television-WTJX Channel 12, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, V.I. Energy Office, V.I. Waste Management Authority, Water and Power Authority and the Youth Engagement Enhancement Education Programs.<o:p></o:p>      For more information on SEA’s EcoFair, call Ms. Stone at (340) 771-1989, and for information on the Litter Stomp, call Ms. Springer at VIWMA at (340) 712-4961.<o:p></o:p>