Page 7 - Edgewood 1 2019

Learning, Legacy, and the Lorax
Learning and service go hand in hand when studying AP Environmental Science with Ms. Horton. Students learn from day one to bring their creativity to the table to solve some of Edgewood’s greatest environmental
problems.
Story and Photos By: Kaitlyn Sollberger
While many would consider a typical AP homework assignment to consist of textbook readings and worksheets, Ms. Julia Horton has taken a completely different approach to impact the lives of her students, school, and community.
The “Unless” project works to integrate the AP Environmental Science class curriculum with the creativity of the students to make a difference and develop innovative solutions to many of the global ecosystem issues.
The project aims to encourage students to “start small. This is your world. School is your world,” said Mrs. Horton. “Trying to leave Edgewood a better place than when you got here is just your small way of making an impact on the world.”
When bringing these environmental issues to light, Ms. Horton hopes to not only benefit the Florida ecosystems, but also to enhance the welfare of the school. Improving the school increases the quality of a student’s learning experience, according to Ms. Horton.
“If they walk through the campus and it doesn’t look trashy, have weeds growing up through plants, and it’s a nice place to be, they’re in a better mental state to go to class and learn,” said Ms. Horton.
With students in a better mental position to work on their assignments, they will prosper in their classes and be better prepared when their time comes to go to college.
The “Unless” project inspires students to invest time and effort into the very topics that they study in the classroom. With the aid of The Lorax, a film watched by her students in the first few days of school, Ms. Horton hoped to spread light on many of the pressing environmental issues to date from the moment they walked through the door. The Lorax, an inspiration to many, will help guide students to leave their “indelible mark,” while also motivating them to be responsible for their actions.
Taking this to heart from day one, Mckayla Keels, 11, has already begun to plan her project.
Having selected a topic that she is passionate about, Keels chose to address the pigeons that call the music hall their home by building a dovecote. A dovecote is a house- like structure that is meant only for the use of birds (pigeons in this case), allowing them shelter from any outside environmental factors while also providing them a place to build a nest. Keels remembers seeing these pigeons as
early as seventh grade. Ever since then, Keels has been interested in studying birds. “It’s not really safe for them to be above the music building,” said Keels.
Her interest regarding these pigeons in the music building has led to her selection of this topic for her “Unless” project. Having already reached out to wildlife veterinarians from Sea World and White Oak, Keels hopes to develop a solution to this pressing issue.
As she begins to break ground on her influential project, she has begun to encounter difficulties with solving a problem that for years has been unsolvable. The most difficult task has been finding a way to balance the quality of the dovecote for the pigeons; the dovecote needs to be attractive enough as a habitat for the current pigeons to live there, but not so attractive that pigeons from other places start to move in. Even with the challenges involved in solving this problem, Keels is excited to begin finding a solution.
Throughout the year, the AP Environmental Science students will begin to further develop their ideas for this project through their class discussions and will work to leave their mark on the school.
The guiding topics within the class will give students a direction and confidence that their actions are able to make a big difference. It only takes one person to make a difference, but with a class full of intelligent and hard-working students, they can make a change that will greatly impact the world.
From the beginning of the students’ time in class, Ms. Horton has ingrained into their minds the words of Dr. Seuss, who said, “unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” Using
these words as a guiding factor, Ms. Horton hopes
to encourage her students to make a difference
that will last for decades.
“It’s not about what something is,” said Ms. Horton. “It’s about what something can be.”
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