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White Oak Elementary
Sugar Hill, GA

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE We are so proud of all that White Oak Elementary has done this year to be Green!  Below we are highlighting just one of our many accomplishments but you can check out our website to learn more about what we have been up to!
This year we held our first annual Trash to Treasure Community Yard Sale and Earth Day Celebration at Gary Pirkle Park on April 22nd . The goal of this event was twofold; the yard sale emphasized the importance of reusing items rather than throwing them away, and recognizing Earth Day helped inform the larger Sugar Hill community of the importance of environmental education and awareness. The yard sale was open to the entire community and marketed in local papers as well as through all of the schools in the Lanier cluster. People could sign up to participate right on our website which was also promoted throughout the City of Sugar Hill.

Student groups from the Lanier Cluster also participated to help create a family-friendly and fun environment with an Earth Day theme. The Key Club helped students’ plant flowers in decorated water bottles and art students offered face-painting with an Earth-Day theme. The robotics club made water bottle rockets out of old water bottles and the middle school orchestra performed for everyone.
Several sponsors also supported the event and helped to make it a great day. The Chevy Volt was on hand for people to see and North Georgia Graphics provided t-shirts for the volunteers at cost and free signage to help market the event. Publix do nated food for the event and gave all profit towards the White Oak outdoor classroom. Chopper, the mascot of the Gwinnett Braves also came by and brought smiles to everyone’s face as he attempted some face painting and planting of his own with his large paws!

We also had several local environmental organizations on hand to help educate the community about ways they can be involved locally. The Elachee Nature Science Center brought some of their animals to share and promoted their summer camps with the community. The Upper-Chattahoochee River Keeper helped teach the community about water conversation and let people sign up for free rain barrel classes. Reaping Nature Productions promoted their environmental education programs and sold earth-day themed items such as pins and t-shirts encouraging people to recycle.

The event was initially planned to run from 8am-2pm on the 22nd but when that day became a snow make-up day, we had to shift the time from 2pm-7pm which meant our event occurred on the afternoon of Good Friday. Despite this unfortunate change and cool and damp weather, the event was an overall success and we raised over $800 for our outdoor classroom. Participants surveyed mentioned that they look forward to participating again next year and we can’t wait to start planning! The local paper also highlighted this event and we are proud of the success for our inaugural year!