The recycling program has been in effect at school for many years, but this is the first year for the Life Skills Support (LSS) class to be in charge of it, and they are noticing some problems.

A life skills class is one that teaches students “who are functioning developmentally below age expectations due to an intellectual disability” according to Lincoln Intermediate Unit (LIU).

The class at our school is located beside the gym (room 11) and has ten students. There is one teacher Katie Bollinger with two additional adults. Teacher’s Assistant Karen Gamache and Personal Care Assistant Joyce Miller.

The goal of all  LSS classes is to “learn both academic and functional skills so that they can achieve to the level that is optimal for their abilities” according to the LIU.

Because of this goal, Bollinger decided to volunteer to do the recycling every week, in order to get her students ready for real world jobs.

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Bollinger became aware of the program when the custodians asked them to help with the recycling.

The recycling program occurs every Thursday. To begin, the class splits into three groups, one for each floor of the building.

The teachers set out their recycling, and LSS students with one teacher come and pick it up. If the teacher forgets to put their bin out, students will then knock on the door and politely ask them for their bin.

This whole process takes them about 45 minutes. At this point, the class takes the bags full of recyclables to a recycling dumpster located behind the school.

Most of the students in the class enjoy doing the program for a variety of reasons. Junior Brandon likes helping the community and the janitors. He also likes that he gets to meet new people.

Senior Devin likes that he gets to do hands-on work. He has also learned through this program to “Never give up. Do your best.”

Some of the requirements for this job were difficult for some of the students.

For example, senior Brooke had difficulty tying the recycling bags, so Gamache helped her find a new way to tie them. Brooke reported that this is her new favorite part of recycling day.

Obviously, this school-wide program is good for the environment, but they have been seeing some issues.

Gamache said the LSS recycling program has been seeing alot of non- recycling in the bins, such as “food wrappers, chip bags, tissues, paper towels, bubble wrap, styrofoam, and plastic wrap.”

The students in the class have been seeing trash on the top of the recycling, so they take it out, but if the recycling yard sees more trash, they throw all the recycling away without recycling it.

The LSS class has been trying to figure out how to teach the student body what’s not recyclable, but aren’t sure how to start.

There is a wide variety that can not be recycled at this school, such as food wrappers, chip bags and tissues. Check with your teacher if you are unsure whether a product can be recycled.