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[|3s in the news!] =Bogota students collect markers for recycling project= Friday, December 6, 2013 BY MARK KRULISH STAFF WRITER Bogota Bulletin

Print | E-mail [|BOGOTA] - The third grade students at E. Roy Bixby Elementary School recently undertook a project involving the collection of used markers to be converted into fuel. PHOTO COURTESY OF DEBORAH HUNTER Pictured are participants of the Crayola’s ColorCycle at Bixby School, from left to right, Nicole Stols, Noah, Shawn, Amisha, Juleza and Deborah Hunter. The two classes took part in Crayola’s ColorCycle – an initiative in which kindergarten through 12th grade students across the United States can collect used markers and send them to a conversion facility where they are turned into clean-burning fuel. Third grade teacher Deborah Hunter said she originally saw a video clip about the initiative on a Fox 5 news program, which showed how the factory turns the markers into fuel, and thought it would be a good project to help her students learn about recycling. "We are always trying to recycle," said Hunter. "When I was growing up, we didn’t recycle anything. There are so many recycling efforts going on now that didn’t happen ten years ago, it was a creative way to teach the kids one more thing about recycling." Hunter said that schools all over the country are using markers more and more with the transition that has been made from chalkboards to interactive whiteboards. With schools going through more markers than ever, she thought it was a good way for the school to recycle them. The students were enthusiastic about the idea and soon they had placed a box outside of their classroom where any student or teacher could drop in markers for donation. Another donation box was set up at the [|Bogota] Public Library for residents around town to donate. "The kids were thrilled every time someone came in with a marker," said Hunter. "A lot of them came in from home with bags full of markers, they were enthusiastic." In order to raise awareness for their project, students created posters to be hung around the school. Volunteer groups of three or four students also walked around to all of the classrooms to give speeches about the importance of recycling. Flyers were handed out for students bring home to their parents so that they could collect them at home. A total of 600 markers, nearly enough to convert into two gallons of fuel, were collected by the students by the conclusion of the project in November. All donated markers were shipped to the factory at the expense of Crayola where they will be melted down and converted to fuel. Krulish@northjersey.com - See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/234704551_Bogota_students_collect_markers_for_recycling_project.html#sthash.5r6aM2rW.dpuf