Pretrina Mullins

Environmental education in a special education classroom

Pretrina Mullins, a special education teacher at White Pass Junior Senior High School in Randle, Wash., created a recycling program to help her students and community understand more about the importance of sustainable behavior.

She and her students set up recycling bins around the school. They started first by collecting paper then expanded the program to include bottles, glass and aluminum. Her students were responsible for making posters to promote the program as well as collecting and sorting through the combined bins twice a week.

The results were almost immediate. The school custodian reported a huge reduction in the amount of trash following the introduction of the program.

As part of the project her students also went on a field trip to a waste center, allowing them to learn about the waste industry and what happens to our recyclables and garbage once they get put in the trash or collection bin.

To further the project, students did a campaign for reusable bags. They wrote pamphlets about the environmental and conservation issues they were learning about in the classroom and distributed them in reusable bags to each student at the school.

The recycling project was particularly important to her special needs students because it helped prepare them for the transition from high school to working adults. Their field trip to the waste center showed them opportunities for jobs, including some in environmental science that do not require a degree.

The project also showed them that they are capable of doing valuable work that contributes to their community and that they have the ability to take what they learn in the classroom and share that knowledge with others.

Mullins continues to engage students in other hands-on projects, including making a school composting bin. She also has plans to start a greenhouse project on campus