Artwork with environmental messaging by two Vienna students – fourth-grader Jeremy Huang of Louise Archer Elementary and third-grader Reese Leviyang of Marshall Road Elementary – now graces one of the town of Vienna’s trash/recycling trucks.
The students were among 180 at the two schools who participated in a project-based learning opportunity last year to “turn a trash truck into a public advertisement that advocates for increased recycling,” town officials said.
The town government recently “wrapped” one of its trucks with oversized vinyl decals of Huang’s drawing featuring environmentally conscious worms on one side and Leviyang’s artwork of a rainforest on the other. The truck debuted Oct. 24 at the annual Vienna Halloween Parade.
Leviyang, 9, said he’s “really excited” and “happy” to have his rainforest drawing on the truck because it was a lot of hard work, requiring a great deal of detail and reworking. As for the meaning of his artwork, Leviyang said: “You should recycle, basically, to make the world more beautiful.”
The schools, which are part of the James Madison High School pyramid, use project-based learning to connect what students are learning in the classroom with real-world applications.
Six second-grade classes at Marshall Road and two third-grade classes at Louise Archer worked on the trash-truck project during the last academic year to create designs that would encourage recycling.
“Students applied their knowledge of our planet and the environment and their creative and critical thinking skills to their designs to encourage better care of the earth,” says Louise Archer third-grade teacher Jo Ann Smith. “Students were able to apply their learning in an authentic way, which is the focus and heart of project-based learning. Being able to connect with real life in their community has impressed and influenced them in a way that they will not forget.”
The project “caused students to think deeply about both recycling and their community,” said Marshall Road principal Jennifer Heiges. “Students were very engaged and excited. They would come in each day and ask when it was time for their trash-truck activity.”