MIDDLETON, Wis. — Three years after earning recognition in the Time for Kids Earth Day Contest, students at Kromrey Middle School continue building on their environmental success through a student-led Green Team that has transformed sustainability from classroom lessons into daily action.

In 2023, Kromrey became one of three schools in the area to earn a tree planted on campus in honor of their environmental efforts. That momentum continues through their Green Team, where students take ownership of environmental responsibility.

“I just wanted to help more people in the environment, because in this day, like, a lot of horrible things are not helping the environment at all and are hurting it more, and not that many people are actually trying to help it,” said Kayla Cleaveland, a seventh grader on the Green Team.

The team’s marker recycling program represents one of their most successful initiatives, keeping thousands of hard-to-recycle items out of landfills. Students collect dried-out dry erase markers, highlighters and glue sticks in classroom bins throughout the school.

“This year we are way on track, like way above schedule. We have collected over 2,410 as of December, so we’re way ahead of schedule,” seventh grader Amelie Langlois said.

Langlois emphasized the importance of individual contributions to environmental protection.

“Well, we think it’s really important for everybody to do their part in the environment. And if even if it’s just recycling one piece of paper, that’s one piece of paper that doesn’t end up in our landfills. And I think that’s really important to our community,” she said.

The Green Team has expanded beyond recycling into composting systems that support the school’s garden program. Students use food waste like banana peels and fruit scraps to create soil for the gardens instead of sending organic materials to landfills.

“We got the compost bin so that we could use like banana peels and like food, like fruit waste because to get some more soil for the gardens, because otherwise it would be thrown into a garbage can and given to a landfill where it wouldn’t have helped any,” said seventh grader Raven Acker. “It feels great because not only are we improving the environment and taking waste from the landfills, but we’re also helping the garden club.”

Science teacher Maria Pittner leads the Green Team and finds inspiration in watching students take ownership of environmental solutions.

“So as someone who teaches about climate change as part of my job. Sometimes teaching about climate change can be very dark and gloomy. And being part of green team and seeing these kids really fight for solutions is really inspiring to know that the next generation is ready to tackle this really large problem,” Pittner said.

The school’s environmental efforts connect to broader community initiatives. SSM Health and News 3 Now have extended their Time for Kids Recipe for Health Earth Day Contest, inviting Wisconsin schools and classrooms to share sustainability projects for a chance to win a tree planted at their school. Submissions are accepted through Friday on under contests.

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