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Elkin Elementary Principal Rallies From The Rooftop, Surpasses $7K Goal For Tray Recycling Machine

A group of students helped come up with the idea of getting a machine that can recycle Styrofoam trays into brick-sized blocks. Principal Pam Colbert stayed on the roof until she raised over $7,000 to put toward the machine!

ELKIN, N.C. — The rain didn't stop Elkin Elementary School Principal Pam Colbert! 

Colbert camped out on the school's roof from Friday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. She said she wouldn't come down until she raised at least $7,000 to put toward a Styrofoam Tray Recycling Machine for her students. She surpassed her goal in just one day, with $7,600 in donations. 

The machine costs $14,000. Colbert says she hopes to raise the rest of the money the help of donations from local businesses. 

What exactly is a Styrofoam Tray Recycling Machine, you ask? 

It's a machine that incinerates Styrofoam lunch trays and turns them into brick-sized blocks. The blocks can then be used for different projects. 

For Elkin Elementary, the blocks could help create a walkway to their playground or more sidewalks around the school. 

Mrs. Colbert says this idea started with the school's environmental club - a group of 5th and 6th graders who call themselves MEGA - Making Earth Great Again!

The students presented a project to the superintendent and the cafeteria staff about how using Styrofoam trays is bad for the environment. They proposed going back to using hard trays. 

Mrs. Colbert loved her students' enthusiasm. The only problem - the budget. 

Going back to hard trays meant they'd have to hire a dishwasher, and unfortunately, the school couldn't afford to do that. 

So to aid in the effort, Mrs. Colbert took action. Only equipped with her chair, tarp, and cardboard structure that her students made to keep her going. 

If people would like to donate towards the total cost of the machine, they can contact the school at (336) 835-2756. 

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