Future Problem Solvers promote plastic recycling through poster-making with lower school students
March 13, 2022
Community officers from the Future Problem Solvers (FPS) club met with Harker lower school students to create and design posters about the harms of plastic after school on Feb. 22.
Led by co-community problem solving officers Aeliya Grover (10), Saanvi Bhargava (9) and Anandita Arun (9), the drawing session aimed to teach students about the three Rs, reduce, reuse and recycle, which are used to address the rise in plastic waste. The colorful art pieces, accompanied by informational messages that students produced, will be hung around the campus.
“Seeing the little kids enjoy coloring, and blending the mixture of learning and doing what they enjoy was fun,” Aeliya said. “This really [captures] what we’ve been learning about in FPS and activating it in everyday life. We brainstorm and apply it to everyday life instead of just writing [an essay] about it.”
In an effort to help children learn about what plastic is through online media, members of the club started a YouTube channel called Harker CmPS (Community Problem Solving) to feature a new video series. The videos are designed for lower school science classes and utilize different formats like lectures and skits. The first video features the three co-community officers speaking about the damaging effects of plastic on the planet, and, as of last week, 500 lower school students viewed it.
“We’re competing in a competition called CmPS, and we pick a topic to spread awareness about it,” Aeliya said. “This year it was plastic. Specifically, we’ve been looking [to] educate lower school students about plastic waste.You’re educating lower schoolers with shorter attention spans, [so] it was a matter of doing something engaging.”
FPS members also presented to students from local elementary school Barron Park on Feb. 8. Club adviser and upper school Latin, history and social science teacher Clifford Hull helped facilitate the project by sending letters to various schools about the initiative and providing his Zoom room for meetings with Barron Park.
The next video from Harker CmPS will feature the impacts of plastic on a person’s daily life.