Brigada Verde

I taught the entire 8th grade course of over 70 students a course about the environment. Weekly I would give interactive talks to the 8th grade class on topics such as global warming, recycling, sustainable materials, water conservation, trash, and more. We played interactive games and did ice breakers while learning about the environment of the Dominican Republic and the ecosystems of the planet.

This was the first course that I taught in the schools and was often very exhausting. After a hot day squished into small classrooms, without enough chairs, and without the authority of a regular teach it was sometimes hard to ensure that the students all learned something from each class, but I hope in the end they learned something. Accounting to the monitoring tools of a post-test and games they seemed to demonstrate knowledge that they did not know before, but we will see if they put this knowledge into practice.

For example I think none of the students knew where paper came from- trees. Many of them did not know about extinct species and how to take care of them. Learning about the crazy number of years trash takes to break down I feel like was really eye opening for them, especially rubber and plastic.

I hope to work with recycling projects with them in the future. Some of my friends such as Taylor are incredible at making recycled art with her kids out of almost nothing. These materials are free and everywhere littering the streets and the beautiful fields of my community. If I could motivate the youth to not only not throw trash into the environment, but also reuse it to make beautiful art, I would feel very accomplished.

The kids already make recycled toys, which I am still impressed by. Many of my kids can’t afford toys and so they invent with what they have. Some of my boys have made wheelbarrow type things out of a few nails, wood, and old bottle tops as wheels, where they can carry heavy things all throughout the community. Other of my younger kids often play with the half plastic bottle on a stick to push around an old tire up and down the hills. They make it look so easy, but trust me, I have tried to play and race my kids and it is not as easy as it looks! Some of my girls use old papers and cardboard as play telephones and desks. The creativity of the kids is incredible and I know going back to US, where many kids now have cell phones and tablets or are glued to video games, it will surely be jarring. I can only imagine that I will long for the creativity and smiles of my kids playing with nearly nothing and enjoying it immensely, improving their socializing and creativity skills.