The annual elementary school Earth Day Fair took place Wednesday, May 7, in the gymnasium. This year the fair featured students’ projects relating to the theme of “food and our world.”
“The idea was for students to explore how we can sustain ourselves and the environment,” Earth Day chairwoman Caroline Fish said. “The inspiration came from current news stories and our desire to help people learn and think more about the food they eat.”
Fish felt that the students, ranging from preschool to fifth-graders, really caught on to the idea behind the theme of food, which provided an excellent addition to current curriculums. “I would like to extend a huge thanks to all the teachers, who really helped to inspire the great projects that the kids turned out,” Fish said.
The broad theme encompassed projects of all different levels. Students from the Village Nursery School and Harvard integrated preschool learned about composting food waste, and used their created soil to plant a flower garden. First-graders created recipes and illustrations of their favorite healthy snacks, and second-graders studied the roles of scavengers and decomposers in the ecosystem. Many who attended the public viewing of the projects Wednesday night were impressed by third-grade individual projects that explored topics from the pros and cons of eating organic, to the future of ethanol and using food as fuel. One particularly popular project educated viewers on the nutrition of McDonald’s french fries, and took a poll on whether people would rather eat homemade or fast food.
Entertainment included viewing the traditional fifth-grade “ecomercials” by Ms. Monett’s science classes, as well as music provided by student musicians.
A large effort was made to incorporate local food producers. Numerous student projects studied Harvard’s apple and maple syrup industries, and Helena Sylvester worked hard to compile a list of local farm stands and sources for fresh produce. “We wanted to honor how great it is that we have so much locally produced food and hopefully stir up interest in this type of food,” Sylvester explained.
Another goal of the fair was to raise interest in the prospect for a future farmers’ market in town. “Everything seemed to fit together so well, which really influenced the decision for food as the theme,” Fish said.
“It was a really fun event,” Sylvester said. “It’s not only worked into the curriculum at the elementary school, but it really involves the local community as a whole.”
An exciting attraction of the fair was the car that Eric Broadbent has converted to run on waste vegetable, which he collects from local restaurants. “In previous years we had to bring in a car from another town,” recalled Sylvester, “but this year we have one right here in Harvard.”
Fish added, “Harvard Local was really inspiring regarding the idea for the theme of local foods as well. All in all, we had a really nice turnout, and I think we are all happy that students and, hopefully, the public gained a lot from the event.”