CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above is not connected to this article.
H-E-B announced their Annual School Plastic Bag Recycling Challenge winners which included two Coastal Bend schools!
Windsor Park Elementary and Flour Bluff Primary will be awarded H-E-B gift cards for collecting the most plastic bags in the Gulf Region area.
Teacher Rachel Beavers wears many hats at Windsor Park Elementary including being in charge of the recycling challenge and leading her school to victory!
"Our students, staff and their families are Windsor Park proud of winning this important challenge," Beavers said.
Windsor Park Elementary
She said this big accomplishment was thanks to all the students and staff that contributed to the challenge, especially their school's student council representatives like Student Council Vice President Zinachidi Mbadugha.
"I feel that it was a good contest that encouraged the students at our school to recycle and to promote awareness about how plastic bags can be repurposed for other uses," Mbadugha said. "I am very glad that we won this contest, especially being able to see firsthand the amazing efforts of our students."
Beavers said she created a friendly competition within the grade levels which resulted in the school collecting a total of 51,873 plastic bags!
"The competition was on fire here at Windsor Park," Beaver said. "Grade levels competed with each other to earn the top honor for the school and competed within the grade levels to be the top collector, as well. During the last week of the challenge, I created a digital leaderboard that teachers shared with their classes to help promote that friendly competition. The big winner is the environment with all those bags heading for recycling instead of in a landfill!"
Below is the total number of plastic bags collected in each grade level at Windsor Park:
- First grade – 9,019
- Second grade – 9,513
- Third grade – 11,780
- Fourth grade – 11,751
- Fifth grade – 9,301
- Grand Total – 51,873
The elementary will use the prizes they receive to celebrate the student's big achievement.
"The winning class in each grade level and the overall winner for the campus are selecting H-E-B treats like bakery cookies and ice cream to enjoy during a class celebration, and because we are an area winner we will have H-E-B treats for all of our students, Beavers said. "Our Student Council Representatives will get a special end-of-the year party for their hard work, as well."
She hopes students don't forget the importance of this challenge isn't about winning but making a difference in the environment.
"Teaching children about recycling is so very important because they are teaching their parents about recycling, too," Beavers said. "They are the best advocates for our environment and I hoped that they learned that together we can make a huge, positive impact on our local environment."
Mbadugha explained the importance of recycling items not only gives them a new life but also helps the community.
"Recycling can help us in a lot of ways because being a coastal city our waste can end up in the surrounding environments like the bays or ocean, putting animals and other organisms at risk," Mbadugha said. "Recycling, however, will not only save animals’ lives but will also provide resources for our community."
Windsor Park Elementary is already looking forward to next year's challenge.
"Absolutely, we will participate and will work to collect even more next year," Beavers said. "We will make a better plan for how to store so many bags and will ask our amazing parent volunteers to help us with the process."
Flour Bluff Primary Steps Up For the Planet
Flour Bluff Independent School District was also recognized by H-E-B for the work they did in the Plastic Bag Recycling Challenge. First and Second grade students at the Primary campus collected over 40,000 bags.
The Student Council and their sponsors Cindy Brewer and Cindy Ames took on the challenge by have students make posters to show the importance of recycling a the ways in which it helps to reduce waste.
"These visuals were hung in the hallways and our administrative staff reminded the kids to bring plastic bags in on our morning announcements and in our weekly newsletter to parents," said Brewer.
The group says they got involved because they wanted to do something that would overall benefit the community and environment, while at the same time teaching a valuable lesson.
"The need for recycling addresses issues that impact student life," said Brewer.
FBISD working to promote recycling in the community
- 1st Grade Collected - 19,507
- 2nd Grade Collected - 21,279
- Total - 40,786
In all, the kids gathered 40,786 for the project; a rather large number for two grade levels. And while they didn't set a goal at the onset, the group regrouped and came up with a plan to collect 1,000 bags per class.
"This challenge was fun but also educational to promote sustainability and environmental awareness. During our student council meetings we monitored our progress for each class and this helped keep the competition fierce. We continued to emphasize the positive impact of recycling on the environment."
H-E-B said this year, they had a record-breaking 675 Texas schools collect more than five million plastic bags for the challenge. More than one million bags were collected this year than in 2023, according to the retailer.