REUSABLE RUBBISH—Sumac Elementary School students volunteer for a recycling program spearheaded by parent Harold Miller, third from left. The students collected bottles and cans during a student drop-off last Thursday. Proceeds will help pay for the costs of the fifth-grade outdoor education program. JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers While learning to protect the environment, students at Sumac Elementary School in Agoura Hills are also raising funds for the fifth grade outdoor education field trip.

Michael LaFrenz, a fifth grade teacher at the school, recently launched a recycling program to help pay for the trip.

“Outdoor education is an incredible program, but each fifth grade student is responsible for paying $285 this year to go,” LaFrenz said.

He said in the past the school conducted candy and bake sales that helped with the costs, but that these fundraisers are no longer used.

“I wanted to start a program that would be beneficial to the environment, as well as for our students, and recycling seemed like a perfect fit,” LaFrenz said.

Students collect cans and other recyclable material and drop the items off at the school. The fifth grade students come to school early on Thursdays to help collect and separate the items. On Wednesdays, LaFrenz said, students in his class are responsible for visiting another class to collect their recyclable items.

“The students have responded better than I could have ever hoped for,” LaFrenz said. “They get so excited when they bring a full bag of recycling to the multipurpose room.”

So far, the students have raised more than $300 and expect the amount to increase each week as the enthusiasm for the program grows.

Colleen Miller, a parent of a fifth grade student at the school, ordered recycling bins free of charge through the California State Department of Conservation website, and had them placed in each classroom.

The state program, Miller said, is dubbed “Good for the Bottle, Good for the Can,” so parents designed banners around the theme, and Brian Shore of Photographics Inc. in Agoura Hills printed the banners free of charge for the school.

The money, Miller said, will be divided equally among all fifth grade students and applied to their outdoor education fee. After the field trip, all money collected will go toward the end-of-year fifth grade culmination activity.

“It is my hope that the kids learn the value of recycling to both the school and environment and the responsibility of running a program that every student will eventually benefit from,” Miller said.

Principal Karen Hansen said the community response to the program has been “fantastic.”

“This week we even had a parent bring in a huge bag of water bottles collected from her work,” Hansen said. “I am proud of the way the kids have gotten involved not only in bringing in, but also in the sorting and bagging and all of the ‘dirty work’ that has to happen on collection day.

“I know it has raised their awareness of how much trash we have. I believe the environmental curriculum that will be presented at Outdoor Ed. will have more meaning for the students when they can relate to the amount of recycled items we throw out and what a difference that makes to our natural world,” said Hansen.

For further information on how to help with the Sumac recycling program, call the school at (818) 991-4940.