Anoushka Rustagi founded a composting committee at her school that volunteered weekly at Newton Rayzor Elementary to teach students about the importance of composting and being environmentally aware.
Anoushka Rustagi founded a composting committee at her school that volunteered weekly at Newton Rayzor Elementary to teach students about the importance of composting and being environmentally aware.
A Flower Mound student is helping young children become more environmentally aware.
Anoushka Rustagi, a senior at the Texas Academy of Math and Science, created a composting program that she implemented at local elementary schools to teach kids about the importance of composting and environmental awareness.
She founded TAMS Peels, a composting committee at her school dedicated to teaching young students about the composting process and giving them the opportunity to compost in their own schools. With consistent advertising and outreach, the committee started to volunteer weekly at Newton Rayzor Elementary in Denton.
Members of Anoushka Rustagi's compost committee teach Newton Rayzor Elementary students about the importance of environmentalism.
Courtesy of Anoushka Rustagi
Rustagi said her program has helped donate around 70 gallons of compost to a heritage center in Denton. She is projected to donate 200 gallons by year’s end. Additionally, some of the students have taken her program beyond the school setting.
Students kept a composting box outside of their school that would then be cleaned out to have all the compost donated to a heritage center in Denton.
Courtesy of Anoushka Rustagi
“A couple of students told their parents about it, and they started doing it at home,” she said.
“I also noticed the kids were talking about environmental things in general.”
She said that while visiting one of the lunch and recess periods at one of her local elementary schools, students noticed plastic trash and chip bags in the grass near their school and picked up the trash.
“I think bringing the program to their school made them more environmentally aware that they were before,” Rustagi said.
After implementing her program and seeing the positive effects that it took, Rustagi received a $500 scholarship from the National Society of High School Scholars for her activism.
“It was a really great feeling connecting with the students,” Rustagi said. “When we went in person, we could actually see how excited they were to participate. It was a really great project to participate in. It gave me a great sense of purpose as I finished out high school, and it was something else that connected students to students, especially the volunteers we took with us.”
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Winston Henvey is the reporter for the Mesquite News, Coppell Gazette and The Leader serving Carrollton, Flower Mound and Lewisville. Email him with story suggestions at whenvey@starlocalmedia.com.
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