Mr. Anderson is a teacher at Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation in Indiana. Using the Learning to Give lesson Lunchroom Recycling Plan, students were able to see that recycling can be improved anywhere.  

Mr. Anderson’s students recycle in the classroom every day and following the lesson, they were excited to learn how to improve and expand recycling into more areas of their school. A team of five 11th and 12th grade students developed and completed the service-learning project Immersive Learning.  

The students wrote grants and received funds to fully pay for a recycling overhaul for their entire school. They purchased eight large bottle shaped recycling bins to put around the school to encourage recycling. Student took full control in the project; they wrote the grant for the project, talked to trash and recycling companies for donations, designed the bottle logo, and dispersed the recycling bins throughout the school.  

“Through this project, students learned skills they rarely ever have an opportunity to learn in a typical class. My students showed how they were able to communicate real life experiences when talking with others about their project, fundraising, grant writing, interpersonal skills, and more,” said Mr. Anderson. 

The Learning to Give mini-grant money allowed the students to feel like they were consumers in society. For the other areas that needed money, students showed leadership by talking with local businesses to help raise funds.  

Students benefited from this project by seeing how a job well done benefited them on a personal level and global level. One student said, "It was cool to see the bottles actually in the cafeteria! Like when we started, I thought it was just a cool idea, but we actually did it!"  

Mr. Anderson wants to find a way to incorporate Learning to Give in his geometry and math classrooms in the future. The high school students were able to help their school community be environmental stewards through their implementation of recycling bins throughout the school through this project.