The future looks grim to Alex De La Mata.
Alex, co-president of Miami Beach High School's ecology club, envisions environmental devastation if the world doesn't wake up. But he and his peers, in schools throughout Dade County and the country, have resolved to refashion that future. "If we can make some changes now, maybe it will make a difference," said Alex, 18. "At least we'll try."
Spurred by youthful idealism, students throughout Dade are leading efforts to save the environment and raise awareness, starting in their own community: They're organizing recycling drives, cleaning the beaches and planting trees.
The students are prodded by their teachers, many of whom have come of age since the first Earth Day 22 years ago. The teachers incorporate environmental lessons into their classes,
from science to social studies to art.
And the students take those lessons home, encouraging parents to buy products that won't harm the environment and to vote for politicians sensitive to environmental concerns.
"We have become more aware of taking care of our earth and our city and our school," said Luba Kirsh, a longtime teacher at Biscayne Elementary School in Miami Beach. "We've come a long way since 1970 . . . Children are very aware when you say 'ozone.' Ten years ago, they didn't know what you were talking about. Now everybody knows the word."
Students have no choice, said Anthony Cannizzo, a Beach High 10th-grader.
"The problem with our society today is we don't do anything until it's too late, when it becomes too big of a problem," said Anthony, 15. "This planet is something we can't screw up because we only have one."
RECYCLING
Recycling programs are thriving at many schools, as students work to conserve natural resources.
At Skyway Elementary in North Central Dade, students have been collecting aluminum foil since November, part of a Dade schools contest. The foil has been shaped into a five-foot ball, which later will be traded for cash.
Skyway also has students patrolling school grounds for recyclable materials. The enviro-cops, as they are called, were sworn in last year by State Attorney Janet Reno and are expected to make sure recyclables are placed in their proper bins.
PLANTING
Replanting and cleanup efforts are also popular among students.
At Lorah Park Elementary School in Brownsville, students have adopted a hands-on approach: Fifty students and parents spent part of last weekend planting sea oats and other plants on Virginia Key.
"We planted some plants so that we could make our environment better for the animals and for us," said Jennifer Dubon, 10.
"Sand dunes are very important," said fifth-grader Michael King. "They stop the beach from erosion and give animals a habitat."
Students in the after-school program at Oak Grove Elementary School in North Miami Beach are contributing to a landscaping project closer to home: on Wednesday, Earth Day, they'll clean up school grounds. Oak Grove Elementary is creating a habitat for native Florida plants and shrubs.
"It will be a living laboratory for the students," said James Baggot, assistant principal for community education.
THE EVERGLADES
Many schools take advantage of Florida's existing natural laboratories -- the Everglades, the beach and public parks -- for student field trips.
Dianne Murphy, a fourth-grade teacher at Twin Lakes Elementary School in Hialeah, has been taking students to the Everglades for the past 20 years. Similarly, Treasure Island Elementary School in North Bay Village regularly sends students.
Principal Beverly Karrenbauer said the trips help teach the value of conserving resources.
"Many of our kids never even knew the Everglades existed," Karrenbauer said.
CURRICULUM
Though field trips are important, many teachers weave the environment into their daily lessons.
This semester, teachers at Miami Lakes Middle School are incorporating ecology in every subject. Instead of asking how long a train trip from Miami to New York would take, for example, math teachers ask students to calculate how many animals remain in the world's rain forests.
After learning about acid rain in his social studies class, Ronnie Escobar devoted his sixth-grade science project to the subject.
Ronnie, 12, compared one plant raised with rain water to given purified water.
"The plant with the rain water grew more slowly," Ronnie said.
Industrial smoke pollutes the air and the clouds, which then release acid rain, Ronnie explained: "Companies need to stop putting smoke into clouds."
Ruben Dario Middle School in West Dade combined Earth Day with art day.
Students and teachers spent about five weeks collecting dead tree branches, which the art classes painted and molded into sculptures. The tree sculptures were unveiled Thursday in front of the school, as the band played and the chorus sang.
"At first I didn't know what was going on," said Juan Valdes, 13, president of the school's ecology club and a member of the art class that worked on the branches. "But it's wonderful. It's the environment and art together."
POLITICS
It's the environment and politics for students in Barbara Rothstein's ecology class at North Miami Beach High.
Students wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency to voice their concern when President Bush narrowed the definition of wetlands. And they monitor public officials' positions on environmental issues.
"A lot of the students in the class are seniors and they will be able to vote soon," said Rothstein, who has a doctorate in ecology. "They know that their votes count."
The challenge for educators, said Karrenbauer of Treasure Island Elementary, is to teach children about environmental problems without terrifying them.
"They've got enough problems in this world, in dealing with AIDS and with drugs and the kinds of decisions they have to make. To put this on top of them, you seem to feel that maybe kids are on overload. The whole idea they'll get is, 'What difference does it make? I'm not going to exist anyway.' You have to give them some sense of being able to control it," Karrenbauer said. "It cannot all be”.
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