I recently received an email from the mom of a 4th grader from Chattanooga, TN in regards to few things directly associated with the GSTC.  This email touched my heart and just knew I had share it with everyone.  Here is a clip of that email:

“We are big fans of the sea turtles and have enjoyed learning about them over the past year. My daughter’s 4th grade class did a 9-week unit on the environment ,and as part of that I helped with a sea turtle project for them. We learned all about sea turtles, made our own eggs and turtles from clay, and made some great posters and pictures about them. We adopted Griffin for the class, and they all loved the updates and pictures of him. At the end of the year, they did an exhibit on sea turtles and talked with all the parents about what they learned. As part of a recycling project, they also collected 3 big containers of crayons to donate to the Sea Turtle Center after they saw the crayon project on your blog.  I am enclosing a few pictures of their efforts so you can see how you’ve inspired a bunch of 4th graders in Chattanooga, TN to make a difference to the sea turtles.”

You can image how proud we were to hear about the different ways this class learning about and helping sea turtles. It’s great to have such amazing support from all over the country and from people of all ages!

THANK YOU TO THIS 4TH GRADE CLASS FROM CHATTANOOGA, TN AND THE FAMILY THAT SHARED THIS WONDERFUL STORY WITH US!

Sincerely,
Stefanie Ouellette
Marine Field Programs Coordinator

Last year, the GSTC put a call out for old and broken crayons to jump-start a recycling program. Crayons, you ask? How can you recycle crayons? We’ll show you what we’ve been up to! Crayons are petroleum-based, taking years to biodegrade like plastics and oils. Each year, thousands of broken, worn crayons are forgotten or thrown away when new crayons are purchased at the start of the school year. So where do they go?  We’ve been collecting cast-off crayons for over a year in an effort to reduce landfill and make a creatively unique crayon just for the GSTC!  Along the way, we’ve had help from several organizations and individuals that have set up crayon collection bins at their schools or businesses. What a response we’ve received!    Terry Aultman, a teacher at Savannah Christian Preparatory School is one such individual. Terry visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center for the first time this past Saturday and brought along a car load of crayons.         This amount should keep us busy for a while!

 So what does our new creation look like? Check out a sneak peek at the photo below.

It will make its turtley-debut in the GSTC gift shop for the upcoming Jekyll Island Mother Nature Festival on April 18! Join the Jekyll Island Authority, the Georgia Sea Turtle Center and many others for this day-long festival of earth-friendly fun! Check out www.jekyllisland.com/mothernaturefestival for more information of visit www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org/specialevents/upcoming-events for photos from the 2008 pilot event, Shell-e-brate Earth Day. Be sure to stop by the GSTC Gift Shop to check out other eco-friendly goodies!

~Kelly O’Keefe, Green Crayon Queen