Bodkin Elementary Environmental Fair Returns For A 12th Year

Bodkin Elementary School’s annual Environmental & Local Culture Fair is returning for its 12th year on May 4 to spread awareness and get people engaged with local environmental organizations, nature centers and parks.

The fair was started so Bodkin could meet the requirement for the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Educators (MAEOE) green school certification, which requires an annual celebration that includes the community.

Bodkin’s environmental initiatives reduce the school’s carbon footprint and teach students about environmental action. Examples include Waste-Free Wednesdays for lunches, a recycling program and a rain garden.

Each year, the school has an overall environmental theme that is reflected in that year’s fair. This year’s theme is “Superheroes.”

During the fair, a display and table will showcase reusable items as “heroes” and items that create trash and pollution, such as single-use disposable items, as “villains.” The school will also sell bamboo cutlery and straw packs as part of the fair’s initiative to promote reusable items and encourage students to use materials that create less waste.

“They’re growing up in such a different time where cheap convenience has taken over,” said fair co-chair Jennifer Aiken. “We need to teach them to make an effort, to reuse things and clean up the Earth.”

The fair has more than 30 vendors each year. Stores and organizations donate food for the event and a local band will play. Some returning favorites include the Phillips Wharf Fishmobile and Eco Adventures, which brings animals for children to see and interact with.

Bodkin Elementary School’s Global Studies Program also prepares activities for the fair. This year, the program is teaching international environmental issues. Students from the program will set up displays showing information they have learned about environmental problems in other countries and what people can do to help.

Local artists and organizations such as SCRAP B-More will offer upcycled craft activities.

This year, the fair will offer a station where kids can write letters to local restaurants, encouraging them to not serve plastic straws to customers. The letter-writing activity was inspired by a recently passed Anne Arundel County law that will ban polystyrene containers from food service organizations starting next year. Several students and parents from Bodkin Elementary advocated for the bill to pass.

“The kids were very active and involved in wanting to see a policy changed and get polystyrene out of the cafeterias,” said fair co-chair Kristen McCreery.

The University of Maryland Extension Master Gardeners Program will also come to the fair this year to educate kids about the importance of bees and beekeeping.

Aiken emphasized that environmental action is especially important for areas close to the Chesapeake Bay, such as Bodkin Elementary.

“It’s crucial that people become aware of their actions and environmental advocacy because it directly impacts these waterways,” Aiken said.

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