T.E.A.L.®’s windows have been decorated by an after school program with the Harlem Children’s Zone, located at Salem Community Center. In the words of Teacher Sabrina Gargano (& T.E.A.L.® volunteer!): “At first it was hard to get everyone on board. Earth day was around the corner, T.E.A.L.® reached out for a window display and we have an awesome art program. So I thought, why not put all of those things together and create a masterpiece. Every day students would flood my desk with caps. They began to become excited about the project and it became something they wanted to work on every day. They were doing more than they thought they were. Recycling and giving back to our community is easy. We are rooted in civic engagement and look forward to broadening the minds of my students.”
From the perspective of the students: “When Ms. Sabrina asked me to bring in bottle caps, I look at her and asked “why?”. She explained to me who T.E.A.L.® was and why it was so important to her. Once I saw her vision I had to help her. I got my friends together and we came up with a plan. I asked my classmates for their bottle caps and motivated others to do the same. Ms. Sabrina stayed consistent and would walk around with a box collection collection box daily. We began recycling to create art, and give back to the community.Salem values community service and I hope to continue to learn about T.E.A.L. and how we can help people in our community.” -11th grade student N.F. Over 1,000 recycled bottle caps were collected, and students even made it a friendly competition of who could bring in the most caps. Over 15 students joined together to sketch what the window would look like, and decide on colors and now the final product is on display at the T.E.A.L.® Community Center! Thank you Sabrina, Harlem Children’s Zone, and Salem Community Center for such a beautiful display to welcome spring!
