Students take on world for Earth Day

By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer

The 32 fifth-graders in Mr. Barinque's class at Waipahu Elementary began learning to play "What a Wonderful World" on their recorder flutes a few weeks ago.

Marika Falaniko, 10, right, 11-year-old Tiana Shimamoto, center, and another classmate prepare marigolds to plant for Earth Day. The fifth-graders in Edward Barinque's class plan a garden outside their Waipahu Elementary portable. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The question launched a campaign.

There followed the litter collection, mapping and analysis project (science lesson), the posters (art), the video (media), a student skit (drama), and visits to other classrooms to talk about keeping the campus cleaner (public speaking).

Ten-year-old John Eric Abejuela said the litter map on the wall showed the exact location of 144 pieces of paper, 87 pieces of plastic, 45 pieces of foil, 22 pieces of wood and 21 cigarette butts.

"Then we made paper, recycling some of the paper we picked up on the school grounds," said Kamaile Stevens, 11, holding up an 8-by-10-inch bumpy, lumpy white rectangle as thick and stiff as lavosh.

Another piece of paper was in a soggy mess of pulp in a pan.

"We're going to use it to write on, so we don't waste another piece," Kamaile said.

The campaign peaked yesterday, Earth Day, with the students planting flowers (biology, botany, horticulture) in red clay pots they had painted earlier in the day.

They cheered when teacher Edward Barinque told them the project was just a beginning, and that they were learning how to plant things so they could make a garden in the dusty red dirt outside Portable Classroom Building 16.

Barinque doled out potting mix from two bags he had bought at Wal-Mart, and student Feliako Sola covered his nose.

"Touch it and smell it," Barinque said. "Just don't taste it. And don't make mud balls and throw it at people, like I did when I was younger."

The students turned to filling their pots one-quarter full (math lesson), tapping on the side of the plastic containers to get the plants out (physics), and helping one another (teamwork, people skills).

The class also is donating canned food to the Hawai'i Foodbank, based on their premise: "A wonderful world has happy people. Hungry people have a hard time being happy."

Ioneki Hookano-Andrews, who hoped to get his name in the paper, was asked why Earth Day is important. The 10-year-old thought a while. "To make a better world," he said.

Barinque then asked the students to play "What a Wonderful World" the way they had learned it, without his guidance.

They tootled away in a shrill concert, bravely skipping sharps and flats and hitting all the high notes with plenty of energy.

"I kind of choked up when they made it all the way," said Barinque, 39, a former graphic artist who began teaching four years ago.

The song is the Louis Armstrong favorite that begins, "I see trees of green, red roses, too. ..."

The students haven't learned the words, but they have learned what the song means, Barinque said: People who do nice things, like shaking hands and saying, "How do you do?" or planting a flower on Earth Day, they're really saying, "I love you."

Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.