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Faces of Conservation
Rehoboth Elementary School: The Conservancy’s Delaware chapter continues to benefit from a new generation of conservationists emerging from Rehoboth Elementary School. During the past three school years, 5th-graders have donated significant funds towards conservation as part of a unit focusing on the Earth’s ecosystems and how all living things interact with each other. During the 2008-2009 school year, a 28-member group calling themselves the “REScuers” held numerous school-wide bake sales, sold ice pops during warm spring days, hosted raffles, and collected donations from the school community in the hopes of donating as much as they could towards The Nature Conservancy’s land conservation efforts. At the end of the school year they proudly donated more than $600 towards the purchase of land that will become a part of the Conservancy’s Middleford North Preserve, and an important protected portion of the greater Nanticoke River watershed. “This year's group truly amazed me by their dedication,” says Jacquie Kisiel, the fifth-grade teacher who annually coordinates this project. “Beyond raising money, they really led by example, ramping up efforts to ‘live green’ through recycling bottle caps, paper products and drink pouches, choosing clothing and shoes made from recycled materials, and seeking to decrease the use of styrofoam products in our school.” This year’s achievement builds on previous years. In 2008 16 5th-graders donated more than $500 for land acquisition projects in Africa as a new organization, “All Paws In.” In 2007, four students from Kisiel’s class raised more than $300 for Brazil’s rainforests as their own advocacy group, “Liv-2-Luv.” The philanthropy has become a school tradition. With each year, more incoming 5th-graders come to school inspired to continue with this progress, since the future of the planet is in their hands.
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