Emily Kerwin

Breathitt County

Emily Kerwin

Breathitt County

Snapshot

Student Leadership through Recycling and Reclaiming at BHS

Breathitt High School has over 800 students, most of whom buy at least one bottled beverage per day, and around 45 teachers, many who use upwards of 150 sheets of paper each day. With no system for recycling, all of these materials end up in local landfills at best or, too frequently, in surrounding creeks. This year, with the help of an ARI Learning Innovation grant, I hope to leverage and strengthen student leadership skills by tackling this problem. The BHS Recycling and Reclaiming Project will use established Club Daytime to design, implement and maintain a school-wide recycling program. The group of students involved will also partner with several community organizations, including the local park, grocery store, and recycling plant, to enact change outside of the school building. These initiatives will be entirely student designed and led, with the intention of being sustainable long past the 2018-2019 school year. Through this project I hope to study the most effective way to support student leaders in bettering their community and well as how to best impact public opinion around issues of sustainability and environmental stewardship.