Earth Day sparks career dreams for students in Montgomery County
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) - Students from preschool to high school got hands-on lessons for Earth Day as they thought about how they can help the planet in their future careers.
"Gotta get all the plants," a teacher said, as her preschoolers and kindergartners watered tiny little blooms.
"Plants need sunlight," sang a teacher as she led a song reminding the kids how to care for flowers. This was the lesson for Earth Day.
Taylor Knauer is a teacher assistant at the Head Start Early Learning Academy in the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit. She and other educators gave students a lesson in planting flowers.
"They're going to help us put them into some soil," she explained. "We're going to show them how watering them will help them grow and aspire, just like the kids will with their education."
She said learning about Earth has some kids thinking about how to make a difference for their future.
"[They say] 'later in life, I want to be a zoologist or something that has to do with that,' and they want to take care of the world," Knauer said. "It makes us feel good."
"Cherishing our environment is super important," explained 18-year-old A.J. Lacy, a senior at Anderson Academy School.
He helped his classmates and teachers prep the ground for planting more flowers. He is heading to college next year to study business. He said, caring for Earth will guide his business decisions.
"It's going to be here as long as you're here, and the Earth will be here after us but we want it to be in good shape," Lacy said.
He said he was encouraged that his younger classmates are learning to protect the environment.
"If people my age and people below me seek to make positive changes, then that's the best thing we can do for our environment," Lacy said.