Do you know the saying – ”A picture is worth a thousand words”? It is very representative for the Recycling Patrol of the Center for Inclusive Education no 1 in Bistrița. The photos and videos witnessing for their creativity and enthusiasm make words seam useless. However, their coordinating teacher, Teodora Popescu, tells so nicely the story of the little people who so many times drew the attention by their originality that we have to share the story with you!
Their mascot, the WEEE Rooster, lost the first place at the Facebook competition with a small difference. But 2,095 votes mean a real victory. We thought that they subscribed to the creativity awards, after they won the best proposal for the Recycling Patrol poster of the last edition and in December 2012 they received the prize for the most beautiful Christmas card! If we add up the fact that they collected the greatest amount of WEEE per participating student in Bistrița Năsăud, we can for sure say that they are an example to follow.
Cockadoodledoo! Wakey wakey! The Recycling is the key!
Teodora Popescu still has live in her memory the beginning, the inspiration sparkle. ”The idea of the mascot came from a character loved by children – the rooster from the Romanian story ”The Purse with Coppers Two” by Ion Creangă. We updated the story, adapted the character to a new role, an extremely important mission related to awareness raising on keeping a clean and healthy environment, by collecting the e-waste we produce.”
Do not imagine that such a mighty rooster, the WEEE collection ambassador, came to light in a blink. Besides dedication and enthusiasm, the young creators exercised their abilities developed at the visual arts class. They skillfully cut, sewed, knit in a team to make a mascot worthy to represent the Recycling Patrol, to draw attention and convince anyone how important is to separately collect WEEE.
The funny scenes of the creative process reached a climax at the testing moment. ”One student wanted to test the stability of the rooster, after wrapping the sponge on the iron pillar. He merely climbed on the back of the rooster and followed by the others shouted: Cockadoodledoo! Wakey wakey! The Recycling is the key! ” Thus appeared the slogan, in a moment of playful inspiration.
The Rooster comes to light
The WEEE Rooster made his appearance in an official context – in front of the whole school, in the yard where the award ceremony for the agents and the supporters of the Recycling Patrol took place. He let himself discovered, admired, applauded and photographed. Immediately a ”fan club” was created – the other children came to see the details, to caress him, to see what’s in the purse, what was written on the crest or the scarf around his neck, to take pictures …
He was also the center of attention at the award ceremony on the 5ht of June, where he stood next to Teodora Popescu when she received the local prize for the greatest WEEE amount/participating student.
”We are confident that the story we will tell next year will be as beautiful as this one and many people who love nature will listen to it.” expressed her optimism Mrs. Popescu. And she has her reasons – watch carefully the photos and the videos. You will see, in her students’ eyes the confidence that when you want to do something nothing is impossible.
In his way to collect e-waste, the Rooster says a lot about the CSEI Recycling Patrol. He speaks about the children’s capacity to reach a goal, their desire to create something beautiful, their joy to take part in a project they believe in. He also speaks about a teacher’s strength to help them bring their ideas to light. The Agents of the CSEI Recycling Patrol and Teodora Popescu have offered their community a gift of care and devotion. We hope that their effort will be paid off with a good WEEE harvest at the next edition of the program. The video presenting the mascot can be seen here.