Bogle Junior High Students Help
Classmates, Family Members
 and Community ‘Go Green’

GILBERT — May 9, 2008 –”Why do we keep doing this?  We’re using all our oil up.”

Frank Hendricsen, a seventh grade science teacher at Bogle Junior High School, says he faces similar questions from students all the time during  discussions on the use of natural resources during his class’s “Go Green” unit.

Nothing could make him prouder.

“One of the most important concepts I try to impress to the students,” Hendricsen explained, “is the importance of being environmentally aware in order to change both their personal habits and those of the community around them.”

During Hendricsen’s recent “Go Green” campaign his students focused on what could be done at Bogle Junior High and beyond to ensure a healthy environment both now and in the future.

“I try to show the students that this is going to be a problem that will impact their lives both now and when they’re adults,” Hendricsen said. “I try not to bring politics into the class, but I let them know that when they reach voting age, they’ll be voting about issues concerning the environment.  The state of the environment likely could impact how they’ll live as adults; it could impact the kinds of jobs they will have.”

To help illustrate that point, Hendricsen asked his students to research topics such as global warming, recycling, air and water pollution and plastic bottle and bag waste.  The students were then tasked to use their newfound knowledge and begin an informational campaign promoting environmental awareness both on the Bogle campus and within the surrounding community.

Hendricsen said the students’ informational campaigns dealt with topics such as how to recycle, tips for being more energy efficient and saving money on electric bills, information on low-energy light bulbs, facts about alternative fuel use and information about the amount of oil used to produce plastic bags and bottles.

To illustrate the amount of natural resources used in the production of plastic bottles, one group of students built a giant water bottle comprised out of dozens of smaller ones.  On the water bottle’s ingredients list, the students listed the nonrenewable natural resources used to produce the bottles.

“When you give students the truth about something, they really begin to question things,” Hendricsen said.  “The research they did really impacted them.  A lot of them took a message about this to their families.  They’re trying to talk to their parents about being more environmentally aware.”