Young Global Game Changers on a Mission

It only takes one person or one experience to plant the seed to create change. Inside King Elementary, young Global Game Changers (GGC) are on a mission to help protect our environment. That’s a mission Louisville Water always supports.

“I am so excited to see that young students are taking an interest in keeping our waterways clean and taking it one step farther to share that with their peers and community,” said Education & Outreach Specialist Heather Hill.

Hill shared Louisville Water’s lesson about protecting our water source, the Ohio River, appropriately during Earth Month. While the fifth graders learned about the history and facts of the abundant river, they also discussed the many ways our actions help pollute the water.

“Stop littering and throw away trash!” Zekiah told her classmates.

“The students became interested in the environment and water pollution after they had a visit from Brightside. They couldn’t believe that littering is one cause of how the river gets polluted,” shared Amy Graf, a teacher at King Elementary.

Taylor Newby, a program assistant with Global Game Changers, said the group selected the environment as the heart badge for their “superpower” project. Their talent + heart = their superpower.

“We ask the students to dream big and supply them with all the materials that they will need. It is for the students to create a project for something they are passionate about that will Ignite Good! which is a term we use to mean doing something good without expecting anything in return,” Newby said.

As Graf explained, they’ve come up with some great ideas!

“The students want to bring awareness to others of how littering can hurt our river. Some students plan to pick up the trash around our school, some wrote a song about how bad littering is for our city, some are making posters to share the information around the school, and some are making an awareness video.”

Their messages echo some of the same things Hill talked about in her lesson.

“There are simple things that each person can do that take hardly any effort- don’t litter and use a refillable bottle.  At the end of the day, we all have a responsibility to take care of the Ohio River for the communities downstream and for generations to come,” she said.

“When the projects are finished, we take them on a field trip to deliver their speeches and presentations on why their project was important for them,” Newby said. “It is about them seeing the project to completion and having that sense of pride that they can be superheroes and make change at any age.”

All it takes is education and a little motivation.

“I don’t want to throw trash (in our environment) because I like turtles and I don’t want to hurt them,” Zekiah said eagerly.