Christmas is the season of giving back, and at Raintree Elementary, they are a little school doing that in a big way.
"We live on the earth and we don't want it to be all trashy and we want it to be clean," says Kourtnee Charles, a fourth grader at Raintree.
After the town of Baldwin stopped recycling a speech pathologist at Raintree took it upon herself to make sure little ones, like Kourtnee, learn this lesson.
"I found the PepsiCo Recycle Rally and it's a national program that any school can sign up to participate in, and it really took off well. Everybody started bringing in recycling. The program gives you the bins to collect cans and plastic and the school responded well," says Patty Meehan, the speech pathologist behind the effort.
Soon the whole community was involved. Even people who don't have students at Raintree now bring in their recyclables, and for a little school Raintree sure is making a big impact.
"Raintree Elementary in Baldwin Louisiana, we are eighth in the nation and we are in first place in the state of Louisiana," says Meehan. "We are really proud of that the kids are really proud of that and they're learning so much."
She spends her afternoons collecting and driving loads of cans and bottles to the ARC of Acadiana, but the school is now looking for help to make giving back to the earth more efficient and accessible.
"We're hoping to get a recycling bin here at our school," she says. "I know we can fill it weekly, definitely weekly we can fill it and have it hauled away to the recycling facility in New Iberia so we are definitely looking for some support in that respect, for sure."
Those who can help can call Raintree Elementary at 337-923-0494.