Dear Sara Snow,



“I have a dream of a world free from litter and of a clean environment where everyone recycles.” This was written by one of my 3rd grade students.



I am a teacher at Sparr Elementary School in North Central Florida. Our tiny, one-traffic-light town, is nestled among the rolling hills and vibrant green pastures that make up the many horse farms scattered throughout Marion County. Many of the families in our rural community work on these horse farms. Approximately 80% of our students receive free or reduced lunch. Sparr is proud to be a school where there is a strong sense of community pride. Some of our students’ parents and grandparents attended Sparr and they have strong ties to the community.



Before I watched your show, I was a so-so recycler, only a light shade of green. You would never see me without a plastic water bottle in my hand. Now I am stopped and asked where I got my Sigg bottle. As I became more and more excited about cleaning up our environment, I began to share all of my green information with my students. This had a great impact on them. Instantaneously, they were true recyclers. No longer did we have any garbage in our trash cans (except for kleenex's and wet paper towels). When we go to lunch or anywhere else on campus, they get out of line to pick up litter. We have set up areas to recycle plastic, cans, styrofoam containers, newspaper, and plastic grocery bags. Now the rest of our Sparr students have joined with my class in our recycling efforts. Students from 4 year olds in our Pre-K class to our graduating fifth graders have excitedly joined us. Best of all, I have students that have taken our program (The Greening of Marion County) home with them and have convinced their parents to clean up their neighborhoods on the weekend without any prompting from me.



Each of my students have shown individual desires for helping our world. Therefore, they decided to share their letters expressing some of their enviromental concerns. After reading books and watching movies to teach us more about recycling, my third graders then wrote passionate letters expressing their individual concerns for the environment. They were so heart felt I wanted to cry. Our kids really care about taking care of planet Earth!



We are writing to share with you what one small school in Florida is doing to help our environment and to ask you to aid us in our quest to save our planet. We do not live in a recycling town so we have hit a lot of road blocks and we lack experience. I feel that our mission is best expressed by my 3rd grade students, so please read their letters (I will send the letters in a separate email).





Our students are enthusiastically planning our April 22, 2008 Earth Day celebration. We would love to have you visit with us on that day to help us plant a tree and join with us in our other “green” activities.



Thank you for taking the time to read our letters and for showing the world through your show how even one person, even a third grader, can make a difference.


"Shut off the water when you brush your teeth"-Savannah W.