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Education (2006-2014)
Tzu Chi in the USA
1989 – 2014
Tzu Chi volunteers have been holding character
education classes at Lytle Creek Elementary since 2006.
and since 2013, first graders have attended Leadership Academy (BOMLA). This has clearly
character education classes every other week. had a positive influence on the students. In
In 2012, second and third graders of Fred June 2012, Principal Nakia Douglas led four of
Ekstrand Elementary in San Dimas visited Tzu his students to visit Tzu Chi’s spiritual home in
Chi on a field trip to learn how to Reduce, Reuse, Hualien, where they served as volunteers in Tzu
and Recycle. Since then, the whole school Chi Hospital and visited the Sanchong recycling
has started recycling plastic bottles in their station to sort recyclables together with local
classrooms. In March 2013, Tzu Chi’s education volunteers. When they saw bottles piled as high
team visited the school to provide the second as a mountain, the students started to think,
graders a lesson in converting food scraps into discuss, and eventually put a recycling plan
compost and even gave them a chance to try it into action. After returning to the United States,
out for themselves. One of their teachers then they started promoting recycling and recycling
converted an unused flower bed into a nursery education. From this point forward, recycling
to teach the children to grow vegetables. and environmental protection became required
Principal Lucinda Newton happily said, “The learning at BOMLA, and students now serve
more the students understand about the world, as volunteers in their community by helping
the more they know how to care for the Earth.” to clean parks or by participating in other
environmental activities. Many have also
Since the school first opened in 2011, Tzu inspired their parents to join them in serving
Chi volunteers in Dallas, Texas, have cared for the community.
and delivered regular Jing Si Aphorism lessons
to the students of the Barack Obama Male
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