CDC students celebrate Earth Day, learn environmental preservation through planting

Spring is in the air at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany and students at the installation’s Child Development Center used the opportunity to plant and learn relevant facts about the environment in an Earth Day celebration, here, April 21.

Coordinators of the annual event taught young scholars the importance of preserving the ecosystem through planting flowers as well as various fruit-bearing bushes in several clay pots and planters situated around the perimeter of the children’s playground.

Col. James C. Carroll III, commanding officer, MCLB Albany, assisted the young gardeners in their planting activity and commented on the significance of the CDC’s 2017 Earth Day observance.

“It’s important that they gain an appreciation at an early age,” Carroll said. “We are supporting (their efforts) by our presence here. It’s a wonderful opportunity and I’m excited.

“If we ever get too busy to do what we’re doing today then, we’re too busy,” Carroll emphasized, before delving his hands into potting soil while surrounded by young onlookers. “So, I’m going to get at it here.”

Tamara Wilson, operations assistant, CDC, MCLB Albany, gave an overview and the learning objectives of the day’s activities.

“What we try to do is create (a learning environment) for the children so they will have an appreciation for nature,” Wilson said. “We start inside the classroom on Earth Day then, we bring them outside. They’re learning about the different plants and fruits they can plant here and at home.

“We are equipping them with the basic skills they’ll need to go home and share with their families, and hopefully it will spill over into the community,” Wilson continued. “The children will be doing the planting and teachers will assist. (Some of the plants are) blueberries and cantaloupes; you’ll see, just a variety of fruits and plants out here today.

“(It is important for them to learn about Earth Day because), society is changing and the younger we start them off showing them how nature and the environment work, they’ll have (a greater) appreciation for it,” she added. “They will build on it and grow. These are our future leaders, so we have to start them early.”

Lt. Col. Nathaniel Robinson, executive officer, and Sgt. Maj. Johnny Higdon, sergeant major, MCLB Albany, were both on hand to assist CDC students at various planting stations during the activity.

Each year, Earth Day—April 22—marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970, according to the website: http://www.earthday.org/about/the-history-of-earth-day/.