Earth friendly students visit Tyndall

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Alex Echols
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Forty-nine students and six teachers from Springfield Elementary School visited Tyndall Dec. 5 as part of a 325th Civil Engineer Squadron program that teaches environmental information to local schools.

The CES Environmental Flight visits these schools throughout the year to teach students the importance of recycling and being earth friendly. Each year they hold a contest to spark the student's environmental creativity.

"The purpose of this program is to bring recycling and conservation awareness to children at the elementary school level," said Edwin Wallace, 325th CES pollution prevention program manager. "So it may have a positive impact on their way of thinking when they get older."

For their project, the students are allowed to do anything that conforms to the theme of helping the environment. The winners get a tour of Tyndall's Recycling Center as well as a Natural Resources nature walk.

"We're trying to grow a culture change and teach them the three R's: recycle, reuse and reduce," said Ted Broome, 325 CES Environmental Flight environmental technician.

While they were at the Recycling Center, the third, fourth and fifth-grade students learned what materials can be recycled as well as what recycling does for the environment and how to use it to earn money.

Then, at Natural Resources, they learned about Tyndall's forestry program and the importance of prescribed burns and why they are necessary. They also learned what types of animals live in this region of Florida and the preservation programs Natural Resources have in place to protect them.

"The goal in bringing students out was to allow them to actually experience some of the lessons they are learning about in their textbooks," Wallace said. "I believe if they have a hands-on experience they are apt to remember it when they are older. It also let them know about some of the science related career fields that they may not have realized existed."