ST. PAULS — Public elementary school students across Robeson County will continue talking trash this week as they celebrate Earth Day and learn about the harmful effects of litter on the environment.

Project Trash Talk, a five-day anti-littering curriculum for students from kindergarten through fifth grade, was developed by Tiffany Locklear, who teaches fourth grade at St. Pauls Elementary School.

The campaign and curriculum came to fruition after efforts by a steering committee comprised of Monica Doares; former Public Schools of Robeson County Superintendent Shanita Wooten; Robert Locklear, PSRC assistant superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Accountability; and Olivia Oxendine, School Administration Program director at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke and member of the North Carolina State Board of Education; and others, said Robeson County Commissioner David Edge, whose passion for a cleaner county helped move others to take action.

The curriculum was supposed to be launched in the Public Schools of Robeson County in 2020 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, but was halted by COVID-19. However, the message to protect Mother Earth began to spread Monday in elementary classrooms across the county.

“The children are really soaking it in,” said Jill Hathaway, St. Pauls Elementary principal.

Locklear said she is most proud of the excitement generated in the students by the curriculum.

“They’re excited about going home and telling parents,” she said with a laugh.

School leaders and Edge hope the message to stop littering resonates with parents and that roadside trash across the county will decrease.

The school typically celebrates Earth Day in one day, but the weeklong event gives students more opportunities to learn, said Chelsea Hunt, a first-grade teacher at SPES.

“So, it just opens their eyes to the impact they have on the earth,” she said.

And the children have shown concern after learning that trash can be detrimental to animals, Hathaway said.

Kassidy Gillis, an SPES second-grader, spoke about harm that trash can cause to animals in the ocean.

“They might think the plastic bags are jellyfish and try to eat them,” Gillis said.

Second-grader Will Gomez spoke about why it is dangerous to litter on the roadways.

“Because some people are driving,” he said. “They might crash.”

“We learned about how long it takes to decompose stuff,” said Treyson Lowery, a fourth-grader who learned that glass bottles can take one million years to decompose.

Students on Tuesday also engaged curriculum activities such as videos, music and an interactive game called Litter Critters, in which they chose whether or not items could be recycled or placed in the compost bin.

On Earth Day, St. Pauls Elementary students will make informative posters with anti-littering slogans, Hathaway said.

The principal sees the Project Trash Talk curriculum as something that can be offered annually. It’s something that can be used to change mindsets regarding littering, according to Hathaway.

“It’s up to us as educators to change the mindset of the children, and then they can help transform society,” she said.

Commissioner Edge visited the school on Monday saw the curriculum in action. He heard the story of Litter Red Riding Hood and witnessed various methods of sharing anti-littering messages with the students.

“It was just exciting,” Edge said.

He is 100% sure it will have an impact on littering in the county, but is unsure of how much, for now, the commissioner said.

“I see it as no way to be anything except a success for Robeson County,” Edge said.

He plans to ask for signs with the project’s mascot, Highway Hawk, to be placed in areas to remind students not to litter.

Edge also hopes the curriculum can spread to other schools in the state and beyond to make an even larger impact on the problem of litter.

Public Schools of Robeson County leaders and Principal Hathaway praised Edge for his efforts in helping make the Project Trash Talk concept a reality.

“We want to thank County Commissioner Edge for his hard work in bringing this wonderful initiative to life in the Public Schools of Robeson County,” said Gordon Burnette, PSRC chief communications officer.

“Our K-5 students are spending this week engaged in creative curriculum that teaches the importance of taking care of our environment and the place we call home. The lessons learned through the Project Trash Talk curriculum will not only have an impact on our students but Robeson County as a whole,” he added.