F.E.E.T. Club a green tradition at Central Elementary

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Years before anyone was talking about sustainability and more than a decade before anyone knew what "going green" meant, a group of teachers and students at Central Elementary School were ahead of the curve on being environmentally friendly.

In 1994, Central teachers Michael Fisher and Lisa Cooper founded an environmental club that the students dubbed "F.E.E.T. Club," or Friendly Environmental Engineers of Tomorrow.

For more than two decades now, the club has been "walking with nature" at Central, with Fisher figuring those first students are now in their early 30s.

"It's kind of a weird name," Fisher admits, "but the kids came up with it and it just sort of works."

The name isn't the only thing that works for this club. Open to fourth- and fifth-graders, the F.E.E.T. Club meets monthly, but its work goes on throughout the school year.

At its most basic level, the club runs the recycling program at Central, with students assigned to specific rooms, collecting and sorting the items to be recycled.

F.E.E.T. students also conduct the printer cartridge recycling program at the school.

Twice a year, the club also collects trash on the grounds of Central Elementary and the adjacent South Putnam Middle and High School.

Besides the week-to-week and year-to-year work of the club, some larger projects have also made an impact over the years.

Plantings of native Hoosier trees on school grounds during the last 20-plus years are the work of F.E.E.T. members. '

Another major project was mulching the nature trail through the trees between Central and the South Putnam football field to the west -- a project that benefited the South Putnam cross country teams, giving them a smooth path through the trees.

Perhaps the largest, most visible project has been landscaping in front of the school, a project undertaken when the Central building was expanded back in 2000.

For that project, the F.E.E.T. Club partnered with the Area 30 landscaping class to complete work that is still visible 15 years later.

This sort of community partnership is key to the success of the club. Besides its service to the school, F.E.E.T. also hosts monthly meetings that give the students a chance to learn about environmental careers and projects out in the real world.

Fisher, along with co-sponsors Becky Phillips, Kelly Newby and Emily Brinkman, seek out speakers from the community to discuss environmental matters with the students.

"Anything that has to do with the environment, we've had them come out," Fisher said.

"So the kids can see the variety of jobs they can get that affect the environment," Phillips added.

The partnerships began back when Fisher and the since-retired Cooper started the club in 1994. It was originally funded by money from West Central Solid Waste District.

Phillips and Newby came on board as sponsors the next year, and the community sponsorships have continued.

Over the years, they've had programs from Purdue Extension, DePauw University, Legan Livestock, POET Biofuels, Soil and Water Conservation District, the DePauw Nature Park, Buzzi Unicem, People Pathways and the South Putnam High School science and agriculture departments.

One year the club even took part in a Cornell University bird survey.

"We try to use every resource we can think of," Fisher said. "We've had quite the mix.

"And it's been fun to meet people out in the community."

Partnerships this year include Purdue Extension for the October meeting, Vanessa Fox of the DePauw Nature Park in November and Sue Crafton from the SWCD in February.

Other programs include making a recycled craft in December and a probable program from Ponderosa Aqua Farm in Owen County.

The fun and opportunities make the club popular among Central students. with about 50 members each year, approximately a third of fourth- and fifth-graders are involved with F.E.E.T.

"The kids look forward to it," Fisher said. "It's a privilege. They have to behave themselves or they don't get to continue in the club."

They also get to work with an energetic group of teachers.

"This is my first year helping out and I have really loved it," Brinkman said before praising her veteran co-sponsors. "They are very knowledgeable, they are professional and they do a great job."

The club has also added to Central's reputation in the community.

"People out in the community know there's a F.E.E.T. Club," Fisher said.

There are also those old students to consider -- you know, the ones now in their 30s. They are now also grownups out in the community and hopefully living environmentally-conscious lives.

Even so, the three veteran sponsors remain thankful of one fact.

"We haven't yet had anyone come in and say, 'My parents were in F.E.E.T. Club," Fisher said with a laugh.