Indian Lake ICC Event, © 2007 Betty Jenewin
Back in October I helped coordinate an International Coastal Cleanup event at Indian Lake in Worcester Massachusetts. To encourage participation in my cleanup, and in ICC events across Massachusetts, I held a raffle: the prizes were signed copies of TRACKING TRASH and a day-long school visit from its author (um, me). I was thrilled when the school visit was won by a science teacher from here in central Massachusetts. Yesterday I visited Don Brown and his eighth graders at Forest Grove Middle School.
Mr. Brown’s students are very familiar with Indian Lake. They can see its shores from their classroom windows, and several of the kids I spoke with yesterday have cleaned its surroundings and tested its waters over the years. When I asked them why they do this, one young man told me, “Because that Lake is our responsibility.” I love that attitude.
Overall, the four groups of eighth graders I spoke with were an intense bunch. They didn’t smile much, but that’s okay, because marine debris is not particularly funny. They lightened momentarily, when I told them about the recent recovery of three individual sneakers on three different Canadian beaches in the past six months: all three were found within thirty miles of eachother, and each had the remains of a foot inside. (Note to self: middle schoolers dig gore.)
I signed books for several students, talked with a few about what I do and why I do it, and skipped lunch in order to give an impromptu talk to a gaggle who wanted to know more but had not been able to attend the formal presentations. I was impressed with what I saw at Forest Grove Middle School, and I hope I cross paths with these kids again … maybe next fall, on the shores of Indian Lake, with checklists in our hands.