Almost nothing is harder to pass up than a free T-shirt. So, when the latest design arrived at the Keep Alliance Beautiful office a few months back I gladly accepted one in my size. No KAB logo, instead the design shows a bulldog sitting atop the Earth with “Bulldog Green” printed beneath. Coined during the 2020-21 school year, the term encompasses the Alliance Public Schools’ commitment to environmental responsibility, primarily through recycling, education and student involvement.
In her third year as KAB education coordinator, Kari Bargen has grown the concept of Bulldog Green in APS while reaching youth in classrooms and the community throughout Box Butte County.
Kari does not craft a specific curriculum. Instead, she researches recycling topics and introduces her own lessons and activities. She does get some specific requests, “Can you do Earth Day night?”, for example. At Emerson Elementary Kari works in conjunction with their Earth unit.
“This year was different because I was subbing all the time,” she said. “That Covid year I couldn’t come in at all. This year I was sneaking back in saying, ‘We’re still here.’ First year I was learning.”
Students in all four Box Butte County schools are most invested during third grade through KAB’s “Black Ops”. Mrs. Cordell hosts the program at Grandview. “That was her baby – she’s a huge advocate for KAB and recycling.” Black Ops is a series of individual missions. Students complete them and get a T-shirt at the end of the year. One week third graders will learn how to pack a waste-free lunch and test their knowledge in Jeopardy on another occasion. “I designed the Jeopardy one, that was a huge hit, and will try to come up with another one this summer. . . . I challenge them to do a (litter) cleanup, and did a coloring contest this year,” Kari said. “I tweaked it to deliver them electronically to the teacher and they play it.”
Overall, Kari does a lot on recycling. However, she also teaches youth about composting, upcycling, the ocean and other environmental issues. She brought up a Black Ops mission featuring Gambia where a woman made and sold baskets made from plastic bags. The challenge was to make a plastic bag bracelet and ask students “what can we do differently?”
Looking toward the fall, Kari is hoping to make a mission about waste in the clothing industry, it’s No. 3 she emphasized. She explained it takes 2,000 gallons of water to make one pair of jeans – more than a person would drink in seven years. “That’s the fun part, there’s always some new thing.”
Youth groups or school classes can call about a presentation. Kari plans to start working with the Alliance Recreation Center again too.
“The kid interaction,” has been Kari’s favorite part of the job, especially since she is substitute teaching more now. “You hope you’re making some type of impact on the kids and how they view the world. Some kids say they can’t recycle because, ‘My mom says it’s stupid.” Maybe it’s not the perfect answer, but we have to do something for this society.”
A challenge has been “pushback from the ‘non-believers’” though Kari said it is usually not the kids.
Kari has worked with teachers and youth groups looking to make a difference. Grandview students did cleanups at local businesses for Earth Day. She has found that community support is better than the negative attitudes.
This summer Kari plans to do a lot of research and preparation for the upcoming school year. She will also be part of the summer reading program at the Alliance Public Library and hopes to work with the garden at the ARC.