GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A group of students at West Side Christian School have developed and implemented a dynamic food compost program over the past several years, running through a daily routine during recess.
As the school's director of outdoor and nature-based education Janet Stall tells it, the program initially got underway when a handful of students began questioning if they could possibly start a school-wide composting project.
It was two second graders named Liam and Steele who took hold of the idea and actually put it into practice.
“Liam and Steele were those second grade boys that just saw the need, and then they've been growing it over time,” Staal told FOX 17 during our visit Thursday afternoon. “I was behind the scenes and letting them run it, and watch their gifts just shine through.”
The pair is now in fourth grade and helping to inspire younger students to take on the compost project.
On Thursday, they were manning a power drill and hammers, putting some finishing touches and the wooden foundation the compost pile sits inside.
“The wood is just pallets from leftover summer camp,” Liam explained, showing off the structure on Thursday.
The daily process goes like this: a group of students, headed by fourth grade project leader Reese, go through the hallways collecting buckets near each classroom.
The big white buckets are given to each class, as students and staff are encouraged to use them to dispose of their uneaten apples, banana peels, or any other organic material.
The group dumps the food waste into a wheel barrel, and move on to the next bucket.
This happens while other students clean out the buckets after they are dumped.
Once they check and clean every bucket, they place the wheel barrel just outside one of the school's doors.
“They typically have 15 minutes to do the whole school,“ Staal explained.
It all happens during what is called "third recess," requiring the kids to practice their time management skills.
The next step in the process happens right after the end of the school day.
A team of students from the Little Sprouts program, headed by student leader Lorenzo, grab the wheel barrel and push it over to the compost pile near one of their athletic fields.
Lorenzo put together an ideal group of student team members, even interviewing potential compost candidates.
“They needed to be serious, not goofing around and stuff. They had to be focused on what we're doing, and they also need to work well with people,” Lorenzo said Thursday.
They dump all of the discarded food into the compost pile, strategically covering the organic material with layers of dirt and leaves.
“We put some leaves down, and then some dirt, and then food scraps, and then some more dirt, and then we just layer it all,” Lorenzo explained.
The students are constantly finding ways to expand the project— they are currently working on approaches to collecting data on the amount of food they are saving from landfills.
Right now, they are accepting pumpkin donations from anyone with Halloween leftovers, all of which will be put into their compost pile.
You can drop your pumpkins off at the school in Westend Ave. NW until November 14.
They have a drop off spot on the school's North East side, near where their property meets Westend Christian Reformed Church.
