Earth Day Event Planned at A-State for Area Students
JONESBORO – An annual Earth Day celebration will be held from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Friday, April 26, at Arkansas State University. The theme of the event is Planet versus Plastics.
“We celebrate Earth Day each year because it is focused on the things that we work on all year long such as picking up trash and keeping the campus pretty as well as our focus on sustainability,” said Melissa Dooley, director of environment, health and safety.
The event is for school-age children from kindergarten through 12th grade.
A petting zoo and farm from Paragould will bring live animals to the event, which includes a kangaroo. Dooley said the petting zoo will have options for students to purchase bags of food to feed the animals and photos with the animals for a fee.
“Kids just love animals and when we start talking about protecting the earth and doing what we need to do, we often focus on ourselves as humans. We are not the only ones here. The kids see that more than we do as adults, so it is always fun to have the animals here just as a reminder,” said Dooley.
Numerous groups and clubs will have tables at the event including students from herpetology, entomology and mammalogy.
“The environmental club from Paragould Public Schools will be there this year. The green business committee from the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce and Keep Jonesboro Beautiful Commission will have a booth,” said Dooley.
The emcee for the event is Brandon Tabor, KASU news director.
Dooley said they hope the event will be educational and fun for all attendees.
“This is the only rock we have to live on and we need to take care of it,” said added.
A secondary event will be held the following week from April 29 through May 3, that will focus on A-State students. “Don’t Toss it, Recycle it” will focus on encouraging students to donate unwanted clothing, small appliances and bicycles that they would otherwise leave behind as the semester ends.
Dean B. Ellis Library
