Earth Day Set for Friday; Event to Focus on Earth-friendly Practices
JONESBORO — The yearly Earth Day celebration at Arkansas State University is scheduled for Friday, April 22, on the A-State campus. The event gets underway at 10 a.m. and concludes at 1 p.m.
Earth Day will include speakers from A-State and area organizations to discuss recycling, local conservation and earth-friendly practices. The location is on the east side of the Carl R. Reng Student Union. School buses can drop students off at the circle on Aggie Road and park near the First National Bank Arena.
Tickets will be provided so each student can enter drawings for gift prizes. All chaperones and teachers should complete a ticket but indicate on the ticket that you are a chaperone or teacher. Tickets will be dropped off at a welcome booth. Hot dogs, chips and soft drinks, donated by area businesses, will be available.
“Each year we invite K-12 students from the area school districts to learn about conservation practices going on in the region,” said Dr. Mary Jackson Pitts, professor and creative media production coordinator.
Representatives of the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library, Marck Recycling, and Envirotech, the electric truck manufacturer from Osceola, will participate.
A-State students can also join the Student Activities Board, the Student Government Association and Volunteer A-State and help with a campus clean-up project. Students may stop at the Chi Omega fountain adjacent to the Carl R. Reng Student Union for supplies and receive a t-shirt or a canvas tote while they last. Clean-up starts at 2 p.m. and concludes at 4 p.m. Contact director of student engagement Katey Provence at 870-972-2055 or email her at kprovence@AState.edu for additional details.
Other student groups represented include the Wildlife and Fisheries, American Chemical Society, Red Wolves for Red Wolves, Women in Science, the Entomology Lab, and the Equine Club. Many of these booths will have hands-on experiences such as a rainwater simulation at the A-State stormwater booth.
The Arkansas Game and Fish mobile aquarium will be there, and an A-State biological sciences faculty member will bring live reptiles to show visitors.
A-State staff will hand out new maps for the PAC Paths, along with safety tips for the use of the campus’ walking, running and riding trails. In addition, there will be a special edition of the weekly Red Wolves Roll group bike ride later in the afternoon to tour the new sections and demonstrate best safety practices. Participants are asked to wear helmets and meet in the parking lot behind the Dean B. Ellis Library at 5:30 p.m.
A-State Environmental Club is planning a variety of activities for the K-12 students, including T-shirt giveaways and educational games. Johnathan Reaves, news director of KASU, the university's public broadcasting service, will emcee the activities.
We hope this event will bring increased environmental awareness and increased sustainable actions throughout the region and instill these values in our area students,” added Jackson Pitts. “We will recognize each school in attendance during the ceremonies.”
Jackson-Pitts noted that if an area school has an environmental club and would like to share their projects or stories, or to obtain additional information about Earth Day, notify Dr. Jennifer Bouldin, associate dean and professor of environmental biology, at jbouldin@AState.edu.
