The moves were fresh – and the paper recycled – at the first community service project organized by the Corps Member Advisory Council in San Diego.

The volunteer group dedicated a recent Saturday morning to introducing a culture of recycling to Thrive Public School, the site placement for first-year corps member Elijah Gonzalez. 

More than a dozen corps members, alumni and students installed recycling bins, created interactive lesson plans, and designed paper and digital advertisements. Council member Steve Askar helped students direct a PSA video about the life cycle of waste – dabbing, whipping and nae naeing included.

A first-year teacher at Thrive, Elijah identified the need for a recycling culture at the charter school co-located at the Kroc Center. Bins dot the public areas of the center, but students and teachers rarely use them. The extra bins and messaging from students and teachers should change that, he said.

“Introducing a culture of recycling will make an impact beyond what I can accomplish in the classroom,” Elijah said.

This is first service project implemented by the Corps Member Advisory Council and funded by the local Alumni Advisory Council. The groups intend to sponsor a community service project at least once per year to promote a sense of corps connection.

“This is a good opportunity for our corps members and alumni to feel united, inspired by each other and to offer peer-to-peer support,” said David Lopez, executive director of Teach For America-San Diego. "I hope we can build on this energy to affect system-wide change."