Technically Invisible

The view outside our classroom windows is priceless – with each passing season, we are able to witness nature’s changes in a way some people aren’t.  You can only imagine the flurry of emotions when students in Room 204 noticed someone throw a used cigarette into the pond:

Dear Citizens of Falmouth,

We are a third grade class of 23 students and our Mullen-Hall classroom windows overlook Shiverick’s Pond.  Every day, we love to watch the wildlife in and around the pond.  Sometimes we spend our Fun Friday Free Time, with Mrs. Brooks’ binoculars, observing all the animals we see outside.

Friday morning, two students happened to be looking outside when they noticed someone throw a used cigarette into the pond.  Immediately, the students became activists; wanting to write letters to solve the problem.  We held a whole-class meeting.  We decided, that although seeing a grown-up littering was very upsetting, we also realized there has been an increased amount of trash all along the path beside the pond.  Many people are to blame for the mess we are seeing outside our windows. We really want the person who littered to hear our message.  However, we know MORE people need to hear it in order to make a positive difference.  Here are some of our thoughts:

“It made my class feel very disappointed about the animals that Mother Nature gave us in the pond. My class would not like it if nothing lived in our beloved pond.”

“We care for nature verrrrry much and they should have known that littering is against the law.  I go every Friday to watch birds, ducks and swans from the library windows.”

“I really care about the animals in the pond. I look at the swans every single day and I hope the swans don’t eat the cigarette or the trash.”

“I would also like to tell you that it is illegal to litter. I would also like to say that I think they don’t care for then environment and animals.”

“I feel this way because I have animals in my house and one is a fish. If he lived in the pond, he would have been dead.”

“I think we could fix this by letting them know how us students feel.  I also want to tell you that it is illegal to litter.  I feel very scared for the animals.”

After vacation, we plan to use our Fun Friday Free Time to clean up the litter along the path. We ask everyone to pitch in and be responsible citizens If you visit the pond (or anywhere else!) ~ PLEASE don’t litter!  We would like children to enjoy wildlife through our classroom windows for a long, long time to come.

Dream Big,

Mrs. Brooks and her 23 Wonderful and Concerned Third-Graders