Cheshire Students Teach New Recycling Program

Students in the environmental science classes at Cheshire High School likely began recycling as soon as they were old enough to toss a juice box in a container.

That’s not the case, however, for many residents of Cheshire who support the environmentally friendly practice, but don’t always recycle everything they can.

To heighten awareness of dozens of students are working on a public information project that will explain the changes that begin next month for homeowners.

“It’s a good thing for my community. We’ll tell everyone and get the word out,” said student Mike Pottle. Teacher Andrea Sidoruk said students would work in project-based groups to create a video, a public information presentation and posters for the high school and the wider community.

The students’ first presentations will be Friday and Monday at the high school during the lunch waves from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sidoruk said the presentations would focus on what can go in the new, larger containers.

The video will be produced in cooperation with teacher Jeff Goodin’s video production classes. “It will come with a message and ideas,” he said. The plan is to help residents learn about the new program and embrace its advantages, he said.

“The idea is to trick your audience into learning. It’s the ‘I didn’t know,’ nugget,” Goodin added.

Jonathan Romaniello, who is enrolled in both classes, is co-writing the script for the video. “We’ll talk about the faults with the old container, the benefits to the environment,” he said. Co-writer Tucker Bishop said the visuals of the video would help tell the story. “We’ll show them the (new) container. They picture it as massive. We’ll show how easy it is to move, it’s on wheels,” he said.

Bishop said he’s in charge of recycling at his house and the new, larger containers will be a lot better than the old rectangular bins. “You had to put newspapers in one bag. I hate doing that. If it snowed, you got water in it. They were heavier. The new ones roll and have a lid,” he said.

Goodin said the students plan to finish the video by the end of this month in time for the mid-November delivery of the new 64- or 96-gallon recycling bins. “The target audience is the senior (citizens)” he said. Goodin said the video will be available on the town’s website, the government channel, the school’s Rampage website and a number of other outlets.