Children practice conservation at Goddard School

Some of their ideas were practical; others were not.

To help keep the Earth clean, kids at the Goddard School, 2680 Pecos Ridge Parkway, had several suggestions for their teachers.

"We pick up trash and dump it on the garbage truck," Makena suggested.

"We use both sides of Ms. Bonnie's paper," was Karilynn and Berkeley's idea.

"Use a vacuum to clean the Earth," Jia added.

Teachers wrote these and other student suggestions on a banner. The kids dipped their feet in paint and stepped on the banner to signify their carbon footprint and hung it on the wall of their classroom.

Goddard spent the last week of March teaching kids about conservation as part of its Stepping Up for the Environment educational program. The week culminated with an hour of nonessential power being turned off inside the school. All of Goddard Systems Inc.'s 380 schools participated at 10 a.m. local time.

To help pass the hour, kids paraded through the hallways in costumes made from recycled materials ---- mostly newspaper ---- that were created in class.

"It's all about conservation," said owner Jyoti Verma. "If they learn it early on, we hope it will be with them life long. Maybe they can protect the planet for future generations."

Students also received fireflies for their classrooms, discussed recycling in class, picked up trash around the school and were taught to always turn off the classroom lights when they leave.

Liz Mekus and Bonnie Luxton, who teach 4- and 5-year-olds, said they had already incorporated conservation into their teaching.

"We made things out of recycled toilet paper rolls and water bottles," Mekus said. "We turned off half the lights every day. Use both sides of paper, reuse cups for water. We're always very resourceful."

Kids did not seem to mind a drab room. They ate lunch without lights on and "thought it was fun," Luxton said.

Verma said this kind of curriculum is what separates her school from others. Last month, the school held the Goddard Games, a week committed to physical fitness to encourage kids to participate in sports.

It is a child development center, Verma insisted, not a daycare facility.

"The biggest differentiation is … (day care centers) are a place to park your kids where you're just making sure the kids are safe," Verma said. "We make sure they're developing, they're learning.

"The walls will talk to you," she said, referring to the student work and teacher lesson plans displayed around the school.

Goddard's maximum ratio is 10 students to one teacher for its oldest pre-kindergarten students. The school opened last fall and has more than 100 enrolled.

Verma said she does not like to give out pricing until parents visit the facility. Open houses are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through April 27.

For more information, call 566-0255 or email hendersonnv@goddardschools .com.

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.