3 It's the Magic Number!

Do you know what the 18th letter of the alphabet is? Can you hold up three fingers? Do you know what three R's are? I bet you do.

SCS students and teachers have been focusing a lot on how we can take care of our environment. It began several months ago in a brainstorming session with parents and teachers who got together to come up with ideas on how to raise some funds for our school. One of those ideas was to have an Eco-Karnival. The purpose of this event is twofold: one, to raise money for some major repairs and replacements the school is in need of, and two, to educate our students, parents, and the community on the importance of taking care of our environment.

This is going to be a major event for SCS. Huge. Each grade at SCS is responsible for a game booth that must be made of recycled materials. Fourth Grade is using, believe it or not, used chopsticks that have been cleaned, painted a bright color,

and made into a slingshot. There will also be booths that sell

plants, books, food, and crafts and stuff from recycled materials. But that's not all. Because this is an event open to the public, there will be an alumni booth, information booths featuring local

environmental agencies, and some cool entertainment.

Thursday evening SCS had an Eco-Karnival kickoff. For weeks we have planned and rehearsed and edited videos to demonstrate how

serious, yet fun, this event is going to be. To check out our video, go to YouTube and type in Isaac Myhrum and look for the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle video. It's a Jack Johnson song, but with a local and more personal touch. Look carefully, you might recognize someone! To show our commitment and school spirit, all students, teachers, and staff wore the same t-shirt, and if I may boast, we looked pretty cool.

Being in involved in this event has inspired me to think more carefully about ways I can reduce, reuse, and recycle. When I go to the grocery, I take my canvas bag. I wash out my ziplock baggies. They can be reused to store crafts or buttons, etc. I learned long ago to put natural food items in a compost pile, and just recently a Japanese mother showed me how to recycle an old t-shirt into slippers. I'll post pictures of that project when I finish making them.

We are supposed to be good stewards of our world. If one person is conscientious about taking care of our environment, and they inspire three to be good stewards, and those three inspire three....well, it will spread and changes will happen and I think God will be pleased that we respect his world.

"Wake me up, God; ignite my passion, fill me with outrage. Remind me that I am responsible for Your world. Don't allow me to stand idly by. Inspire me to act. Teach me to believe that I can repair some corner of this world." - Rabbi Naomi Levy, founder and spiritual leader of Nashuva, a groundbreaking Jewish outreach organization.