Peace and Social Actions Club Meeting

Yesterday I held a meeting of Albany High School's Peace and Social Actions Club. The meeting was held to discuss the ongoing recycling project. During the meeting I made contact with the company with which I will be dealing, T.A. Predel. I spoke with Mr. Jody Davis, and he briefly described the recycling within the city school district already underway. He also described prior attempts with paper recycling at Albany High, and the difficulties faced in the past. We agreed to a meeting to discuss plans for a recycling program. This meeting will be held February 12th at 3:30, in the Leadership Academy conference room.

Meeting with Carol Reiser

Yesterday I had a meeting with Mrs. Carol Reiser over breakfast. A professional grant-writer, Mrs. Reiser has agreed to assist me with the project. We discussed several things together. I introduced the project to her and explained the grants that I was looking at. She gave me some things to consider with the grant process. Among these include budgeting, completeness, and succinctness. In particular, she told me to be sure to look at all parties involved. She also mentioned that she is going to give me a workbook that will guide me through the process and help track my progress. In addition to discussing the grant, we also talked about the project in general. She gave me some additional contacts to make and a few other suggestions. All-in-all, it was a very productive meeting.

Initial Planning Meeting

Yesterday (1/18) there was an initial planning meeting held to discuss my recycling project. Among the issues discussed at the meeting were the recent history of recycling at Albany High School and some of the challenges such programs have faced. One particular obstacle was the use of recycling bins as trash receptacles by students.  Based off of the information provided, it was decided that the recycling bins would have to be placed in strategic locations, away from the primary student traffic. In particular, bins will be placed in or near the copy rooms throughout the school buildings. Another solution discussed to solve this problem was the incorporation of recycling education into the science curriculum, especially that of earth science classes. In addition, it was determined that students, through the Peace and Social Actions Club, would be the ones emptying out the recycling containers. This would most likely be done on a weekly basis.
Ideas were floated about doing poster contests or competitions between academies as ways of generating interest. The concept of doing something for Earth Day was also brought up.

Some basic housekeeping was also done at the meeting. Ms. Hatfield agreed that it would be easier if I contacted Mrs. Carol Reiser about assisting with the grant-writing process. Mrs. Miller agreed to be the official supervisor for the project. I agreed to make all the contacts with any outside companies to secure the removal of paper waste. All-in-all, this was a very productive, albeit abrupt, meeting.