Rawlins Daily Times, Jerret RaffetyBy Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer
Filing into Rawlins Middle School’s room 310 on Thursday afternoon, the sixth graders had no idea that their guest was going to assign them homework.
They chattered and squirmed as five neat rows of young adults turned into a mess of bodies scattered through the room.
“You’ve come up with a problem for us to fix,” School Board member Dave Dingman said loudly. The room quieted. “In fact, I didn’t think this issue existed, but you made us aware of it. And you’ve got our attention.”
Charged with the task of finding a solution to depositing 375 plastic foam trays into the Rawlins landfill daily, Dingman wanted to find out what the kids thought before presenting his own ideas.
“We could bring our own plates,” Lincoln Garlington called out.
“That would be weird,” some voices murmured. “No, that would be cool!” others piped up.
Or maybe the trays could be edible, like ice cream cones?
Students thought of plates made of plastic or metal, to be cleaned by students serving in-school suspension or doing community service. Or, they could be carted to the high school to be washed, they said.
Mel Fryar wondered if the paper salad plates could be used.
Each suggestion was met with laughter and uproar, until Dingman presented his idea of creating a compost experiment. He was met with 50 blank stares.
Dingman explained that during the summer the kids could try a science experiment. They could mix 100 biodegradable trays and some discarded food in a bin, add water and worms and stir it regularly to see what happens. If it worked, he said, the school board may decide to continue the project on a large scale.
However, the project requires some planning. In the next week, the sixth graders will discuss Dingman’s proposal while he figures out its budget and time feasibility.
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