Thomas Jefferson’s Green Club does its part to help the community and raise money.
Photo by Ed Gloor
Students at TJ have been wondering, what is that little red house at the end of the drive?
Starting back in December, TJ Teacher Kerry Black and the Green Club began helping to repair the Thomas Jefferson green house, and strengthen the TJ community by working with Red Apple Recycling.
Red Apple Recycling is an independent Colorado corporation supporting Colorado education by helping fund wellness and sustainability programs in local schools. Red Apple Recycling states, “We believe that ‘green’ programs are critically necessary in our schools – to teach the youth of today about recycling and sustainability. Involving our young people in ‘green’ programs or projects is a vital key to a better, more efficient Colorado in the future.”
Red Apple runs a program called Little Red Schoolhouse, which helps collect any types of clean clothing, shoes, sheets, pillow cases (including flannel), towels, robes, cotton or linen table clothes, bedding, quilts, and drapes, which are distributed and sold at certain retail stores. They do not accept any household goods including computers.
Red Apple Recycling was established as a channel to help fund these educational initiatives. “We raise these funds primarily by donations of pre-owned and unwanted clothing and shoes from the community,” says Red Apple.
Thomas Jefferson has its own Little Red Schoolhouse, and it sits at the end of the front drive. For each donation of the items mentioned above, TJ earns money. “They will pick up our donations, and they will distribute them to different stores, and we get a percentage of the profits,” said Black. This money is going to support the TJ Green Club, which will then use it to grow tomatoes in the green house, and resell them for a profit. Black also hopes to extend this opportunity to the Thomas Jefferson community by hosting a spring fair, where the green club will sell the plants that they have grown. “We’re using the green house as an initiative to combine general education students and special education students,” said Black. The green house can be used for biology, and botany.
Talks of a community garden have also arisen, but as of yet that is difficult, because there isn’t anyone to tend the garden over the summer. Black would also like to take the Green Club on a tour to the Denver Recycling plant, so the students can see first hand how things are recycled.
Blacks message to people who are wondering how they can help is: never throw away your unwanted clothing or shoes, and deposit your donations in the Little Red Schoolhouse at TJ.
For more information visit www.redapplerecycling.com.
