A group of 30 Daniel Axford Elementary students come to school early every other Thursday to scheme about how they can make their school an environmentally-friendly place. The first and second-graders call themselves the Green Team and focus on recycling, limiting energy use and are planning on a community garden.

As the Oxford Board of Education held its March 26 meeting at DA, the Green Team highlighted some of its efforts to trustees.

“We really wanted to be a green school again,” said Rita Flynn, a DA teacher involved in the program. “We were at one time, but there’s a whole bunch of different steps to be a green school. You don’t just get to be called a green school.”

Board members received student-made light switch covers that match those around DA reminding people to shut the lights off when they leave a room. The students also placed recycling bins to collect paper, glue sticks, markers and more in classrooms.

One of their latest efforts is to limit the use of or get rid of plastic straws. Flynn said they’ll be meeting with Nutrition Director Karen Bissett regarding limiting straws or using an alternative straw, like paper, soon.

The Green Team is also partnering with community members to create a garden on school grounds. Flynn is looking forward to all the opportunities for learning and fun it will create for the community.

“It’s really great because these kinds of projects bring people together and it benefits the school,” she said.

At the end of the meeting, Trustee Mary Hanser commended the young students for their recycling efforts.

“So many places people are just throwing out cans, throwing out water bottles, all this stuff just goes out,” she said. “It’s great to see that they’re making an attempt to make our space better, try to make the world better.”

Trustee Erick Foster echoed her statement, noting the efforts of the next generation could alter the effects of climate change.

“You plant the seeds in the kids to grow that type of behavior and belief,” he said. “They’ll pass that on to their kids. We’re probably a lost cause at this point, but you’ve got to start somewhere and hopefully in the next generation we’ll all be out of this mess that we’re in.”

The school board is scheduled to meet again on April 9 at Oxford Middle School. Meetings start at 6:30 p.m.