PHOTO GALLERY — Sabine Pass students celebrate Earth Day in the outdoors; enjoy work with worm hotels
Published 12:40 am Friday, April 21, 2023
Early childhood student Jude Harvey tries to decide which color paint to use on his rock. (Mary Meaux/The News)
Kindergarten student Rafael Lopez holds a rock he painted. (Mary Meaux/The News)
Sabine Pass Independent School District Superintendent Kristi Heid shows the various herbs being grown in the school bus turned greenhouse at the campus. (Mary Meaux/The News)
A view of the plants growing in the greenhouse. (Mary Meaux/The News)
First graders create their superhero masks. (Mary Meaux/The News)
Sabine Pass School students Rylan Johnson, left, and Jonathan Barriga find a place to place their painted rocks as coach Cody Almond looks on. (Mary Meaux/The News)
Assistant principal Jason Thibodeaux hands a cup of dirt to Brooklyn Booker as Memphis Pinell waits her turn. The students later planted a bean in the cups. (Mary Meaux/The News)
Librarian Jessica Almond stands next to one of several cement columns she painted at the outdoor classroom. (Mary Meaux/The News)
Painted rocks in the rock garden at Sabine Pass School. (Mary Meaux/The News)
The bus-turned-greenhouse at Sabine Pass School. (Mary Meaux/The News)
The garden area at Sabine Pass School. (Mary Meaux/The News
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
SABINE PASS — Jake Deslatte knows the importance of Earth Day.
Deslatte, a fourth grader at Sabine Pass School, said Earth Day is about taking care of the Earth, keeping it clean and recycling.
Students such as Deslatte have been taking care of worms in anticipation of releasing them into the school garden.
Teacher Ashleigh Deslatte said Golden Pass LNG provided the worm hotels, which are empty 2-liter bottles that had soil and worms. The students took care of the worms for two weeks, feeding them lettuce and watering them. They will be released at a later date.
Sabine Pass School was in the midst of celebrating Earth Day Thursday with outdoor activities including rock painting, seed planting, story time and much more. The event was originally scheduled for Friday but was moved a day ahead due to the chance of inclement weather, Superintendent Kristi Heid said.
Deslatte enjoys the outdoor classroom on campus, saying it gives a very unique experience for teaching and breaks up the monotony of being in the classroom.
Fifth grader Preslee Hurtado enjoyed the rock painting activity. As a dance student, she painted a ballerina on her rock, which was added to the garden on school property.
The school has a garden with fruits and vegetables and a bus-turned-greenhouse, where other plants and herbs are grown.
Garden and more
Heid looked over at the pristine garden with its rows of plants, saying when the vegetables start growing they will be picked.
“We had a wonderful crop last year, beautiful squash and tomatoes,” Heid said.
The students enjoy the garden, she said.
The school was one of the recipients of the 2023 Environmental Champions Grant Initiative powered by Port Arthur LNG. Heid said they plan to add more items to the garden with the grant funding.
As the children moved about their activities, from the garden to rock painting, making masks as superheroes for the Earth, making bird feeders and having lunch, Heid noted the obvious.
“And then being outside just experiencing the blue sky and the white clouds and the green grass and breeze,” she said. “Can you find a better classroom?”
