Wilson’s Can-Do Effort Saves 7 Acres Of Rain Forest

Saving butterflies, anteaters, monkeys, sloths and toucans has proved as easy as picking up discarded pop cans for students at Wilson Elementary.

The students snatched their families’ empty pop cans, raided a few recycling bins and dug in Dumpsters to collect more than 16,623 aluminum cans in the past six weeks.

The result was enough money to purchase almost 7 acres of rain forest in the Panatal region of Brazil.

The seven-acre parcel was purchased through a national environmental group called Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre Program.

Sixth-grade teacher Pat Rathers, who organized the aluminum can drive, initially expected the final collection would allow Wilson students to purchase one or two acres, “at the most,” he said.

But he and other teachers weren’t prepared for the “mountains of cans” that erupted on classroom floors.

The school divided itself into seven teams. Each team’s goal was to collect 900 cans.

“We outdid ourselves,” Rathers said. “We planned a party for the winning class but every class was a winner and will get some recognition,” he said.

Students gleaned wayward cans left as litter (tsk-tsk) in local parks and on sidewalks.

Rathers’ class was paired with Lisa Chandler’s first-graders. Together they collected 3,652 cans.

And the kindergarteners who paired with the school’s administrative office collected more cans than any other team - a whopping 4,259.

Where did all those cans come from?

“From the smell of some of them, they got them 10 years ago,” Rathers said.

Other sources included parents, friends and a few secret-source wellsprings, said kindergarten teacher Jan Cady.

“I got them from my friend Ray,” said Josh Fry, 5.

The scoop on Ray? “He owns a grocery store,” Cady said.

“My dad likes pop and he drinks a lot,” said Caitlin Scott, 5.

One of the secret sources turned out to be a highly visible, traditional but very illegal dumping ground located on the right side of Highbridge Park.

“It’s been a dumping area for a long time,” Cady said.

First-grader Marisa Smith looked in her grandmother’s garage and uncovered hundreds of cans. Marisa also asked her neighbors for donations. Her request netted her more than 1,000 cans, she said gleefully.

Anna Penar capitalized on her mom’s love of V-8 and her brother’s five-pop-a-day habit.

And how did first-graders enjoy being paired with sixth-graders? “The sixth-graders - they were little mean, green, pop machines,” said first-grader Peter Miller.

Collecting cans was fun for all the students. The kindergarteners and first-graders particularly enjoyed the fact that their efforts may save many of the rain forest’s inhabitants - parrots, cockatoos and rhinoceros beetles, among other animals.

The kids also enjoyed exercising their feet collecting cans and doing the old one-two.

“It was fun crushing the cans,” Peter said.

State Science Olympiad Saturday

Eastern Washington University will host the State Science Olympiad Tournament on Saturday. Events start at 9 a.m. and will run until 5 p.m.

The campus will be overrun by egg transport vehicles, Rube Goldberg machines and other science marvels designed by local students from Chase Middle School, Ferris High School, Gonzaga Prep High School, Rogers High School and Shadle Park High School, as well as teams from all over the state.

The public is invited to watch students display their science skills in nearly 30 events.

The Geology Department Office on the first floor of the Science Building will provide maps of the campus and Science Olympiad event sites.

Winners of the State Science Olympiad Tournament at EWU qualify for the national tournament to be held May 17 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Ferris orchestra tops

Ferris High School’s orchestra took top ratings in the recent Eastern Washington Music Educators Association.

The Ferris Orchestra received superior ratings for its performances.

Ferris’ chamber orchestra received the highest point total of the day, including one perfect score.

The Ferris Piano Trio - Patti Chen, Emily Chong and Dan Delaney - received a gold award and Anna Fisher received a gold award for her string bass solo. Fisher’s performance sends her to the State solo competition. Brandon Matthews, viola, and Delaney, cello, are alternates for state positions.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo