Posted May 4, 2006

Forest Glen fifth graders recently contributed a mountain of gym shoes to Nike's Reuse a Shoe program in collaboration with School and Community Assistance for Recycling & Composting Education (SCARCE). On a sunny April afternoon, the shoes were deposited in a big stack out on the school grounds, where students first admired the sheer quantity of their haul before boxing and bagging the shoes for transport. Some of the 500 pairs of shoes will be donated to needy families, while Nike will "pulverize 'the Stinkies, the Smellies, and the Holey Oldies' into NIKE-Grind, to be used to make new basketball courts, running tracks, playground surfaces, even soccer fields" according to SCARCE.

Forest Glen children participated in many activities to get the word out, says teacher Laurie Berenschot, noting that the kids put great energy into the project, using technology to make flyers and posters, giving presentations, making weekly announcements, submitting articles to the PTA newsletters and conducting other persuasive activities to educate others about recycling and encourage shoe donations. "As a team, we thank Adam Andres, 5th grade teacher for coordinating the project through SCARCE," she said.