Kids Conserve at Earth Day Carnival

By SIERRA DAVIS | Pali Life Editor

Tiny rubber ducks were being doused with chocolate syrup as frenzied elementary students frantically tried to clean the birds using only Q-tips before time ran out.

“See how hard it is to clean up? Now imagine having to clean real birds covered in toxic oil,” said marine biology student Evan Clark.

Clark and his classmates from marine biology and environmental science were among the students at Palisades High School who hosted the annual Earth Day Carnival on the baseball field at Pali High on April 23.

Using hands-on games and activities, like the oil-spill simulation, to engage small groups of students from Palisades Elementary School, the high school scientists worked to educate their young peers on the importance of Earth conservation.

“Steve Engelmann and I have the greatest kids this year and can’t wait to show off all that they have accomplished,” said marine biology teacher Karyn Newbill, adding the highlight this year is the addition of an inflatable (to-scale) blue whale, which was purchased as a teaching tool with the help of a $2,700 dollar Lori Petrick Innovation Grant they received earlier this year.

“We are so excited to finally get to show this off to all the kids. Our students have worked so hard and it’s great to see it all come together,” she added.

Elementary students took turns powering a light bulb by running on a giant hamster wheel while others built soccer balls out of discarded materials and a rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” could be heard as performed on guitars made from tissue boxes.

“We want to encourage students at a young age to find ways to recycle things rather than send them to the landfill,” said Liesel Staubitz, who was leading the band. “There are so many ways we can reuse our trash even before we recycle it.”

Other booths focused on composting, beach clean up, endangered species (like Norwals) and more.

“So far, I’ve learned that recycling can be fun and a lot of the things you can recycle are really useful,” said fourth grade student Finn Karish.