School Programs - highlights
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Youth ARTS + MEDIA
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ARTS + ACTION |
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2017-18 - Program Highlights
Plastic Free Waters
Zero Waste Schools
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2016-17 - Program Highlights
ARTS+ACTION Zero Waste Schools
Community Arts + Media for Trash Free Waters (see more ->)
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Rhonda Keyser, Cafeteria culture teacher, pilots a new version of Cafeteria Culture's "Garbology 101" lesson at PS 15 K, where she dresses up as the Mayor and a Sanitation worker.
PS 15 K 5th grade students with ther marine creature masks, rehearsing their original skit about plastic litter that becomes deadly marine pollution.
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The US State Department and the US EPA invited Cafeteria Culture and our students to present to delegates from China on community-based, upstream solutions to reduce plastic street litter, which contributes to a rapidly increasing global marine pollution plight.
PS 34 5th grade students visit El Sol Brilliante, an East Village Community garden, to learn what actually happens to food scraps when they are composted.
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2015-16 Program Highlights
ARTS+ACTION Zero Waste Schools
Youth Arts + Media for Trash Free Waters
PS34 M 5th grade students were invited to sing and dance about reducing food waste at the FEEDING 5000 event, a free lunch for 5000 made from food waste, Union Square, NYC, May 10, 2016
PS34 M students studied the history of their neighborhood, then made current-day observations and designed their dream neighborhood of the future.
PS34 M 5th graders building a model of their neighborhood to use as a miniature set for stop motion animated segments of LITTER MONSTERS, a video about how local plastic street litter becomes deadly global marine pollution
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NEST+m lower school Cafeteria Rangers on the job as zero waste leaders at the end of lunch period.
The "Plate Captain" at work after lunch at NEST+m
NEST+m third grade students teach younger students how to be Cafeteria Rangers,
NEST+m won a 2016 Golden Apple Award from NYC Department of Sanitation! Pictured: Ms. Wilen's third grade class with Manhattan Deputy Borough President Aldrin Bonilla and NYC Councilwoman Rosie Mendez.
NEST+m, a K-12 school of 1700 students, scored amazing waste reduction results starting on Launch Day of the Cafeteria Ranger Program!
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ARTS + MEDIA school programs at MS 246 K Walt Whitman & PS 34 M -> Watch all the amazing student-made videos: on YouTube here -> on Vimeo here -> 
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PS 15 K - Pre K and K students sort in their classrooms after breakfast, lunch, and snacks.
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ZERO WASTE PRE-K and K classrooms
pilot program The Cafeteria Culture team in partnership with PS 15 K Pre K and K teachers led a zero waste classroom pilot program. We tested our original Pre-K and K sorting songs and sorting games with the school's youngest students. They are doing a fantastic job with compsoting thier food scraps, sorting thier recyclables and reducing garbage.
PS 15 K is a designated Zero Waste school as part of New York City's Zero Waste Schools Initiative. We are very happy to be continuing this effort, working with NYC Department of Education Office of Sustainability and GrowNYC at this school. |
2014-15
ARTS + MEDIA
for Climate Action
Program Highlights
PS 34 M students paraded with puppets to Union Square to share the great news that NYC Schools were officially rolling out the new compostable school food plates! As of September 2015, all NYC public schools have switched from styrofoam to paper pulp.
PS 34 M students surveyed neighbors and the community about recylcing habits at home at at work.
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"I Am Not Trash" backpack pole puppets created by PS 34 M students and taken outside to help educate NYCHA community neighbors to recycle.
Fifth and third grade students from PS 34 M conduct plate waste audits as part of a financial literacy and environmental education pilot program.
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"We were so impressed that children in the program so naturally described the Socratic dialogues as part of their process. The discussions demonstrated that the project deeply considered the role of democratic citizenship as part of its principles and an impressive level of learning at an early age. We think it’s so important that this STEM learning has specific advocacy actions that go with it. " - Judges for the 2015 UL Innovative Education Award
Bag Bill Talk
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Bag Giveaway
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Students have been took their no-sew tee-shirt bags out to the neighborhood to give away for free, promoting reusable bags and the reduction of plastic bags.
2013-14
ARTS + ACTION
Cafeteria Waste Reduction
and
Youth Media for Climate Action
Program Highlights
Environmental Quality Award from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Cafeteria Monitor program Launch Day at MS 246 K Walt Whitman
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MS 246 Walt Whitman - LAUNCH DAY, January 14, 2014: pictured on left, JUST 2 small bags of garbage from 500 meals served; right, recyclables and food scraps diverted from landfills and incinerators.
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PS/MS 7 and Global Tech Prep, Manhattan (D4) Students decreased cafeteria curbside garbage from 10 bags per day to just 1 bag per day on the launch day of our program! On ZERO-WASTE CHALLENGE DAY, both schools combined had only 1.5 pounds of garbage. Cafeteria Culture piloted our first community organization collaboration with CIVITAS, which is dedicated to improving the quality of life in East Harlem and the Upper East Side. The CafCu team trained CIVITAS adult volunteers to lead our Cafeteria Waste Reduction program. Our mutual goal is to expand this program to other public schools in East Harlem and the Upper East Side, empowering students with hands-on recycling education that can be taken home ZERO WASTE LUNCH CHALLENGE
PS/MS 34 M's 6th grade eco-stars on Zero Waste Challenge Day: just 13 ounces of cafeteria garbage from the entire school! (photo: Atsuko Quirk)
STUDENTS ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE
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Eighth grade students from MS 246 Walt Whitman worked in teams on production of 11 short PSA type videos. Students presented finished videos at screening at the US Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 Office.
MS 246 students presenting their video shorts at the US Environmental protection Agency, Region 2.
After School ARTS+ACTION
CURBSIDE COMPOST MESSAGING Students at PS 167 The Parkway School (Brooklyn) learned about compost then, students worked in groups to design and paint moving messages on the school's organic totes (aka rolling compost bins). (read more ->)
These beautifully painted totes are set out on the curbside every day in front of PS 167, brightening up Eastern Parkway with colorful student messages about composting and caring for the earth.
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Watch all our videos on YouTube here->
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Students and School Food staff from Cafeteria Culture's partner schools, MS 246 K, PS 221 K and PS/MS 34 all helped with the piloting of various types of possible new school food plates.
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2012-13
ARTS+ACTION Cafeteria Waste Reduction
Program Highlights
Cafeteria Culture taught PS 20 second grade students about Climate Change, math, data, and Art via the construction of hand puppets and a giant polar bear puppet.
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Student Rangers oversee all recycling, composting, and sorting in the cafeteria.
They take ownership of the program!
Student Cafeteria Rangers from PS 63 Manhattan - The Star Academy.
The Neighborhood School / PS 63, Manhattan-
Students dramatically increased waste diversion rates from 3% to 85%, decreased cafeteria curbside garbage from 9 bags per day to 1.5 bags per day, and composted all food waste locally!
PS 221 Crown Heights, Brooklyn - (A Seeds in the Middle School)
Fifth graders designed and constructed fantastic giant puppets made from hundreds of used plastic foam lunch trays and performed an original play about plastic ocean pollution.
All students, including Kindergarten and Special Needs classes, oversee cafeteria recycling, composting and sorting.
PS 20, Lower East Side, Manhattan-
Student Rangers reduced cafeteria garbage from 14 bags to just 4! Second Graders learned about Climate Change and built a giant polar bear puppet.
The ARTS+ACTION Cafeteria Waste Reduction program is in-cafeteria and classroom program, providing urgently needed school cafeteria solid waste reduction education, including sorting, food scrap composting and food packaging recycling. This version is designed for grades pre K-8 and is based on our previous success. The primary program goal is to increase school cafeteria solid waste diversion rates up to 80% by the following methods:
Students dramatically increased waste diversion rates from 3% to 85%, decreased cafeteria curbside garbage from 9 bags per day to 1.5 bags per day, and composted all food waste locally!
PS 221 Crown Heights, Brooklyn - (A Seeds in the Middle School)
Fifth graders designed and constructed fantastic giant puppets made from hundreds of used plastic foam lunch trays and performed an original play about plastic ocean pollution.
All students, including Kindergarten and Special Needs classes, oversee cafeteria recycling, composting and sorting.
PS 20, Lower East Side, Manhattan-
Student Rangers reduced cafeteria garbage from 14 bags to just 4! Second Graders learned about Climate Change and built a giant polar bear puppet.
The ARTS+ACTION Cafeteria Waste Reduction program is in-cafeteria and classroom program, providing urgently needed school cafeteria solid waste reduction education, including sorting, food scrap composting and food packaging recycling. This version is designed for grades pre K-8 and is based on our previous success. The primary program goal is to increase school cafeteria solid waste diversion rates up to 80% by the following methods:
- Empowering student to be Cafeteria Rangers or Monitors;
- Teaching students both the how and why of garbage reduction; and
- Leading students in the creation of entertaining messaging “campaigns” (such as designing giant puppets or animated shorts) to engage students and staff on the topic of garbage.
Cafeteria Ranger TrainingsTraining starts with “ Garbology 101” lessons in each classroom. All students and teachers first learn “why” sorting in the cafeteria is so important and how our massive amounts of garbage connect to environmental justice and climate change issues. Students practice recycling and sorting basics through songs and games and then engage in hands-on, real-world problem solving during the lunch period as leaders in their cafeteria. Student Cafeteria Rangers oversee all recycling, composting, waste sorting, as well as learn how to conduct waste audits. This strategy has been hugely successful, and also can help to foster positive community spirit of respect in the cafeteria.
Learn More > |
Make Change WorkshopsIn-class, interdisciplinary workshops are taught to a 1st - 8th grade classes. Lesson Units include: students as advocates - taking action to promote a zero waste culture; math - using real school waste audit date; Change Makers in American history; and Socratic discussions (asking questions such as, ”Is achieving a zero waste New York City by 2030 possible?”). The culminating project is the design of an entertaining messaging “campaign,” such as the construction of large puppets or an installation in order to gain buy-in from the entire school and neighboring community on the topic of garbage reduction. Workshops may also include student video documentation - students learn how to use video cameras and how to conduct project related interviews.
. Learn More > |
