2007- 2008 Success Stories

5 Jun 2008 - Fourth graders educate community members about ways to protect manatees located in the local waters. A letter to Governor Charlie Crist details students’ hope that stricter policies will reduce boating speeds within manatee habitat. More...

5 Jun 2008 - The students in Ms. Mutert's Earth Force club share their Earth Force experiences at the 2008 Suncoast Earth Force Summit. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Students in Ms. Lopez’s class adopted nearby Boyette Springs Park and have a plan to include local community members and park visitors in a clean-up of graffiti and litter. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Gorrie Elementary students address stormwater issues on Davis Islands by encouraging sustainable lawn care practices among local citizen groups. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Fifth graders in Ms. Carmen’s 5th grade class are completing last year’s project addressing campus litter before finding a new problem to solve. Garbage cans have been turned into trash monsters through the artistry of students who are painting cans purchased with funds from Learn & Serve. More...

5 Jun 2008 - “Extreme Makeover” takes on new meaning when visiting Ms. Leacock’s fifth graders who hope to rejuvenate their campus wetlands boardwalk and promote wetland education among the student body. Students take their message to the road – literally – and educate neighbors about keeping stormwater clean. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Ms. Perez's Fourth Grade class at Nelson Elementary share their story at the 2008 Suncoast Earth Force Youth Summit held on April 23, 2008 at Al Lopez Park. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Ms. Perez's Fifth Grade class at Nelson Elementary share their stories at the 2008 Suncoast Earth Force Youth Summit held on April 23, 2008 at Al Lopez Park. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Eighth graders educate their community about three issues: sexually transmitted diseases, solid waste and bullying. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Sixth grade students in Ms. Sethi’s class in this central Tampa school have kicked off their Earth Force year and decided they would like to improve the health of their local watershed by addressing water quality issues in a nearby pond. More...

27 May 2008 - Ms. Whitman's Earth Force Club at St. Anthony Catholic School talks about the importance of recycling at the 2008 Suncoast Earth Force Youth Summit. More...

16 Feb 2008 - Mrs. Edwards Form 8M Class looks to tackle storm water issues in Tampa Bay More...

16 Feb 2008 - Earth Force students at Robinson Elementary setup a tutoring program for younger students More...

16 Feb 2008 - Investigating their butterfly garden More...

16 Feb 2008 - Madeira Beach Students take inventory of their campus More...

16 Feb 2008 - Students look to provide habitat for native birds in their school yard More...

16 Feb 2008 - Second year Earth Force students look to reduce energy consumption More...

16 Feb 2008 - The Earth Force Club at St. Anthony works to “Green” their community More...

16 Feb 2008 - Mrs. Edwards Form 8M Class looks to improve the health of Tampa Bay More...

16 Feb 2008 - Mr. Lee’s class kicks-off Earth Force at Shorecrest Prep More...

16 Feb 2008 - Fifth graders look to help turtles in Tarpon Springs More...

16 Feb 2008 - Students at Clair Mel Elementary target the issue of dirty water More...

16 Feb 2008 - Incarnation’s Earth Force explores their campus retention pond More...

4 Jun 2008 - Fourth Grade students at Twin Lakes Elementary beautify their campus with native plants to improve habitat for their school yard neighbors. More...

16 Feb 2008 - The Baypoint Elementary maintain a community resource. More...

16 Feb 2008 - Azalea’s Earth Force Club begins a campus wide recycling program More...

16 Feb 2008 - Admiral Farragut’s Earth Force Club looks to clean-up a storm water canal on campus More...

15 Feb 2008 - Students in Ms. Vickstrom’s 7th grade science class have begun the Earth Force process. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Academy Prep students identify erosion and storm drainage problems on campus. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Fourth graders at Colson Elementary in Seffner take action quickly when problems are discovered. Their spacious campus, dotted with beautiful old oak trees, is located next to Colson Park in Seffner. The park and school campus have been the focus of students’ attention since the beginning of the school year. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Students in the Earth Force elective class are beginning to learn about several issues on their school campus by studying invasive species and they have found several types on campus. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Fifth graders take their pro-CFL (compact fluorescent lightbulb) message to their local community members and beyond, all the way to the steps of the capital in Tallahassee. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Middle School students in Ms. Durkee’s after-school Earth Force Club create interest among students to watch their use of energy. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Fifth graders in Ms. Courser’s class have a lot of passion when it comes to making a difference in their community. They have decided that the combination of drought conditions and increasing population of newcomers to the area has created a problem with water supply. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Students in Mr. Oliver’s fifth grade science classes research threats to the habitat of various endangered species due to climate change. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Students in Ms. Manteiga’s 5th grade class take environmental stewardship seriously. Student efforts include creation of an anti-litter display at the Florida State Fair, establishment of a campus-wide recycling program and organization of an Earth Day assembly for the entire student body. Hillsborough County School Board member Susan Valdes congratulated students on their initiative and leadership. More...

5 Jun 2008 - Sixth grade students in Ms. Sethi’s class in this central Tampa school have kicked off their Earth Force year and after observing trash in the solid waste stream, decided to begin a campus recycling program. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Ms. Messina’s Earth Force class is composed of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. The class includes several students returning from last year’s class that selected prevent erosion and eliminate invasive plant species through education as their project.

This year student’s banner is “We are Earth Force and we are going GREEN!” They have decided that they will learn all they can about climate change and global warming. They invited Roberta Fernandez, expert on global warming issues, to speak to them. They were both concerned to learn about how serious the problem of global warming is to our planet and ourselves as well as inspired by learning of all the options that they can select to help reduce the effects of global warming. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Mrs. Mutert’s Earth Force Club is made up of 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. Azalea Elementary is primarily a neighborhood school located in west-central St. Petersburg. Earth Force Club students created a butterfly garden two years ago and began a campus-wide recycling campaign last year and also bought energy-efficient desk lamps for teachers as a way to cut down on use of electricity.

This year, students have expressed great concern over littering and the variety of problems it creates including, animal injury and environmental damage. They will continue to examine things that they can do around their campus and neighborhood. The students are also continuing to maintain their gardens and have taken over maintenance of the campus butterfly house. They plan to use the house to grow native plant species for use in the gardens. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Joe Ratasky’s 5th grade Earth Force class identified litter and trash as their primary environmental concerns. In addition, they list dirty river water, abandoned animals, and loss of habitat as issues they believe are related to litter and that result in injured and killed animals. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Ms. Gembarowski’s 8th grade class has several students who have participated in Earth Force projects for two years. Pollution, global warming, wasting water, littering, and trash disposal are the primary environmental concerns for this class. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Ms. Gembarowski’s 7th grade Earth Force class is in their second year. Last year the students educated their community through use of a pond on campus. Their school is surrounded by natural wetlands in a northeastern community called Tampa Palms

Students identified littering, pollution, emissions, and harm to animals as their most important environmental problems. Underlying most of their discussion of various environmental concerns was how each problem is associated with animal injury or death. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Ms. Gembarowski’s 6th grade class is in their first year of Earth Force. The students identified a wide range of environmental issue as most important to them including too much localized construction resulting in loss of habitat, global warming, littering, pollution, and wasting water. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Ms. Schroer’s 5th grade students are combining with Ms. Reber’s 5th grade students to conduct a joint Earth Force project this year with both classes. The students identified pesticides, global warming, destruction of habitat, water pollution, littering, and air pollution as their primary environmental concerns. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Ms. Der and Ms. Lumpkin's 5th grade classes have worked to improve the health of the watershed at Crystal Springs Preserve for several years including creating several gardens of native plants, removal of invasive species, and learning about watershed issues. This year the students have already planned a field trip to the spring and are interested in continuing their work there.

Students identified water pollution, littering, and loss of habitat, particularly cutting down trees, as their main environmental concerns. They also link each of these issues back to endangering animal health and as threats to the environment in general. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Madeira Beach Middle School is located on backwater areas near the Gulf of Mexico. The school is a marine-focus school and therefore the students have a strong bond with water-related and, in particular, saltwater issues. Ms. Gibson’s __th grade Earth Force class identified excessive construction, beach pollution, habitat protection, and animal protection as their primary environmental issues of concern. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Madeira Beach Middle School is located on backwater areas near the Gulf of Mexico. The school is a marine-focus school and therefore the students have a strong bond with water-related and, in particular, saltwater issues. Ms. Gibson’s __th grade Earth Force class identified global warming, littering, and water pollution as environmental issues most important to them More...

15 Oct 2007 - Nelson Elementary School is located in eastern Hillsborough County in a rural area that is undergoing rapid growth and urbanization. Earth Force teacher Ms. Perez and 4th grade teacher Terry Senhauser’s students identified air pollution, loss of habitat, and wasting water as their main environmental concerns. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Nelson Elementary School is located in eastern Hillsborough County in a rural area that is undergoing rapid growth and urbanization. Earth Force teacher Ms. Perez and 5th grade teacher Carrie Luckett’s students identified energy conservation, habitat loss, air pollution, and littering as their primary environmental concerns. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Ms. Bone’s afterschool Earth Force Club is composed of 6th-8th grade students. Several students in this year’s club are returning from last year when they worked with Lithia Springs County Park to help clean up park litter. This year, students identified pollution, litter and global warming as issues important to them. They also plan to reconnect with Lithia Springs to consider extending their work there. More...

15 Oct 2007 - St. Anthony Catholic School

Ms. Whitman’s afterschool Earth Force Club is composed of 5th through 8th grade students. Many in the club are returning students and several have been in Earth Force for 4 years. These students have many environmental interests including participation in the annual San Antonio Rattlesnake Festival where they set up recycling bins and wildlife exhibits, travel to nearby Crystal Springs Preserve to learn about water issues, natural habitats and help with removal of invasive species. The students also maintain many live animals in their classroom, have created a pond with an extensive native habitat at their school, and assist with recycling programs at their school.

This is Ms. Whitman's eighth year as an Earth Force educator. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Ms. Edward’s 4th period 6th grade Earth Force class identified littering, water pollution, and air pollution as their primary environmental concerns. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Ms. Edward’s 3rd period 6th grade Earth Force class identified recycling, global warming, littering, and habitat destruction as their primary environmental concerns. More...

15 Oct 2007 - Wendy Bernstein’s 5th grade Earth Force class identified junk mail (waste of paper and trees), littering, air pollution, and ground pollution due to leaking oil and gas from cars as their primary environmental issues. Global warming is also an issue important to the students and they invited Roberta Fernandez, an expert on global warming issues, to speak to them. More...