St. Bernadette Students Create Recycled Art to Learn about Conservation

Eighth-graders at St. Bernadette School, a member of the Omaha Catholic Consortium, will create a recycled art project to help raise awareness about the importance of recycling. The students are teaming up with Keep Omaha Beautiful, Conservation Fusion, and University of Nebraska at Omaha on this collaborative service-learning project that will help students understand the link between populations and resource availability, ways that environmental degradation can happen locally and globally, and learn more about energy consumption.

“This is a great way for students to connect what they learn in the classroom and apply it to the real world,” said Brian McGlynn, St. Bernadette science teacher and coordinator of the project at the school. McGlynn attended a Service Learning Seminar at UNO last summer, which gave him the opportunity to collaborate with UNO and other non-profits.

“I hope my students will gain an awareness of sustainable practices on both a local and global scale and what sorts of positive impacts those practices can have in their community,” said McGlynn.

Last year, students created large banners representing wildlife from Madagascar that is now extinct due to deforestation. The banners were used to educate students in Madagascar about conservation.

St. Bernadette students have participated in other student service learning projects in recent years. Last year they partnered with Conservation Fusion and students in Madagascar.

Students collected litter during Youth Fall Clean-up Day as well as recyclables from home to make the art. The student’s creations will be displayed at an art show on Nov. 12 in the Community Engagement Center on the UNO campus. It is open to the public. Susie McGuire of Conservation Fusion will deliver the finished artwork to her students in Madagascar.

To learn more about how students at St. Bernadette School are making a difference in our community, please visit our school or contact Principal Lynn Schultz at 402.731.3033.