‘Turn it on; Turn it off’
Middle school’s Earth Day play teaches kids about energy
By ALEXANDRA CALDWELL
Article published on Wednesday, April 23, 2008  |
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| Photo by ALEXANDRA CALDWELL |
| Caitlyn Conway, third-grader at Plumb Elementary, watches the play, “Turn it On; Turn it Off” that teaches about energy-conservation. |
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CLEARWATER – Energy Hog’s leather jacket, smooth talk and cool rock music were no match for Conservative Mary’s fluorescent hair, logic and motivating rap song. In the end, both the children in the play and the children at Plumb Elementary learned why it’s good to save energy.
Drama students from Southside Fundamental Middle School in St. Petersburg presented the play, “Turn it On; Turn it Off,” to the elementary school kids April 17 in honor of Earth Day.
Representatives from the City of Clearwater, Progress Energy and the Florida Public Service Commission in Tallahassee joined the Southside kids to reinforce their message.
“We basically want to work this whole mindset into these kids because they’re the future,” said Matthew M. Carter II, chairman of the Florida Public Service Commission in Tallahassee. “Florida is a beautiful place, we love the water, we love the sun, we love the air, but we’ve got to take care of it.”
Carlen Petersen, councilwoman for the city of Clearwater, told the students that when she was a little girl, her father always told her to turn out the lights, but now she understands how important that is.
“(Conserving energy) is something we need to take very seriously going forward,” Petersen said. “The city is. We are looking at every way possible to start conserving energy – going green.”
The presentations and the play seemed to make an impression on the kids, who particularly enjoyed shouting, “I’m clean and I’m green.”
“It’s important because you save energy and your parents don’t have to pay so much money for the electric bills,” said 9-year-old Bryce Wyatt, a third-grader at Plumb Elementary.
Wyatt said he learned why it’s good to turn off lights when he leaves his bedroom, not to leave his CD player on at night, don’t leave the water running and don’t keep the refrigerator open for long.
The play also made an impression on the actors. Alexandria Crawford, an eighth-grader who played the mom in the play and who wanted her children to be more energy-conscious, said she learned more about conserving energy.
“Kids learning how to conserve energy is really important,” Crawford said. “Because like with today’s presidential elections, they’re always talking about global warming and all this stuff, and I hear adults talk about it and complain about it, but I’m waiting for them to do something. So if they won’t, kids need to do something.”
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Article published on Wednesday, April 23, 2008
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