Keely Fogarty, an eighth-grader at Valley City Junior High, inspects a turtle shell during a presentation by U.S. Fish Hatchery representative Matt Van Thuyne. (Sheila Anderson/VCTR) 

By Sheila Anderson
Valley City Times-Record

Local junior high students spent an afternoon last week learning more about environmental issues.
An activity day to commemorate Earth Day was held Friday, April 25, at Valley City Junior High. A variety of sessions were offered to students as part of the school’s Service Learning program.
Nicole Sufficool, service learning coordinator, and Alaine Toso, Title I instructor, organized the service learning project.
“We’re getting the youth out there to make it a better community,” Sufficool said. “The main goal is working together.”
Among the sessions available to students were paper grocery bag decoration, windsock creation, and an environmental jeopardy game. One session on sorting trash aimed at helping students be more conscious of waste issues. Some students participated in a session on how to write letters to the editor to raise environmental awareness.
Kathryn Joyce, of the 2XTM (To Cross the Moon) organization, donated 100 free windsock kits to the school for the project. 2XTM, a North Dakota group, uses material from recycled snowkites to make the windsock kits to raise awareness about the need for more wind energy.

For full story, see Friday's edition of the Valley City Times-Record. 

Nicole Sufficool, Brad Sufficool and Randy Hooey (back from left) monitor junior high students during the celebration held at the school cafeteria April 25 after the activity day sessions ended. (Sheila Anderson/VCTR)