Kids Go Green: Student Authors Tackle Environmental Issues By Linda Dees

 

Students across the United States and beyond are collaborating with family therapist Dr. Jeri Fink and reading specialist Donna Paltrowitz, in an approved school curriculum called “Books for Kids by Kids” and its offshoot "You are the Author.” The newest book, Coco and The Giz Go Green, is part of a grassroots environmental movement led by kids. Designed for and dedicated to families, schools, communities and the environment, it reaches into the daily lives of children, encouraging them to take action beyond their school assignments in order to see results that go far beyond grades. In the spirit of sustainability, the kids participate in a printer-cartridge and cell-phone recycling drive, as well as a bottle-recycling campaign. In addition to providing a boost to education and the environment, the project, the first of its kind, provides a creative and productive outlet in which children, schools and the community can work together.

The idea was hatched just a few years ago. While taking a walk, Fink and Paltrowitz, both authors and mothers, discussed that kids have much to say about their world and that they are often the best equipped to express it. That was the beginning. Now they help kids put their thoughts into published words with an extensive process ranging from choosing topics and illustrating to printing and publishing. Students in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Minnesota, California and Australia already have written and published ten books for kids by kids.

In one of the first books, The Gizmo Tales, 130 seventh graders researched and wrote a book about Trouble, a homeland-security dog, and Odin, a shelter-rescue dog that saves his family from a fire. Using this dog-hero storyline, student authors took on issues relating to character, commitment, loyalty, human values and the bond between people and animals. In the ten books published thus far, the youth have addressed such timely topics as bragging, bullying, diversity, immigration, plagiarism, racism, community service, environmental clean-up, internet safety, growth and development, and social responsibility. Paltrowitz asserts that creative collaboration is part of another important peer process, i.e., learning to work together and sharing a common objective.

Beginning a chapter book series called Which Way?, the newest project involves 5,500 children from a North Babylon, New York school district. The goal is to give a voice to their ideas and concerns about the environment, empowering them to become advocates for a clean and healthy planet. The book stars Coco and Gizmo, the Fink and Paltrowitz family Labradoodles (a breed of dog that is a cross between a Labrador retriever and a poodle), as the superheroes. They are on a mission to save the planet while the kids deal with the dirty energy creeps and work alongside an eco-friendly cat and garbage critters gone good. Coco, Gizmo and the gang introduce readers to green fuels, as well as concepts that include conservation, renewable energy and global warming.

All grade levels in the North Babylon school district have gotten involved and found their niche in the process. The elementary-school students – grades kindergarten through five – write about these two canine superheroes that travel around the world, helping people solve environmental problems. The kids address everything from recycling and deforestation to biofuels and global warming. The middle-school students join in by researching and describing things people can do to reduce their carbon footprint to help conserve and preserve resources. The high-school art students design an eco-friendly superhero vehicle for the dogs (and the superhero cat, too). The mechanical design will be created by high-school technical students. (Currently, the students plan to have the story's car run on recycled cooking oil.)

A fourth grader at Parliament Place School in North Babylon, New York, writes about the canine superheroes.

Storylines follow the reader as the main character and combine fact, fiction and old-fashioned storytelling. Plots stress environmental responsibility and character education. There are no violent scenes or gory descriptions – only positive ideas and practical solutions. Students research, write, edit and illustrate the books. They also are encouraged to get involved in activities that Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. “Where Does All the Garbage Go?” is being investigated by Principal Christine Kuchta and her fifth-grade class at a North Babylon's Parliament Place Elementary School. “We're taking a stand on environmental issues. Our children use their creativity and imagination to develop a better understanding of the world around them while taking positive action to make a change. What more can I ask of a project that already brings excitement, creativity, parents and the community right into the school and the hearts of my children?" Kuchta asks.

The book series will include photos of alternative options such as waste-to-energy plants and solar panels. Students also are illustrating “clean choices” with pictures that say: Go Green. The glossy paperback with a black-and-white interior will be printed under the “green press initiative” using recycled paper and eco-friendly print dyes. Each will include a final eco- audit page, detailing the positive impact of going green. When the book is completed, the student authors will become celebrities for a day as they launch and sign copies at a local bookstore.

“The process of writing a book becomes a concrete activity to which kids can relate,” Fink says. “Once a strong foundation is built, a collaborative spirit emerges – one where the kids work together to take ownership of their book. Pairing words and illustrations is a skill that improves the ability to integrate thought, themes and multimedia expressions. Some of our best artists have emerged from kids with learning disabilities who cannot write but who are incredible artists. No one is left out of this process. Everyone contributes using special talents and abilities,” she adds. “We feel blessed to be able to create a project where everyone wins – the kids, the schools, the community and the environment.”

Linda Dees is a retired defense contractor and technical writer, mother of a boy and girl, wife to a sweetheart, amateur genealogist and aspiring pianist. She won the November 2005 Writer's Digest chronicle contest, and took an honorable mention (out of 19,000 entries) in the 2006 75th Annual Writer's Digest Writing Competition.

Photos courtesy of Book Web Publishing, Ltd.