American Idling

This week I had the honor of being invited to an assembly at South Mountain School where the subject was car engine idling.

Girl Scout Troop 250 and the 3rd Grade of South Mountain Elementary School combined their valuable lessons learned this year and put them to good use spearheading an awareness campaign regarding the problem with unnecessary idling. The New Jersey Environmental Federation also worked collaboratively with this program.

The Girl Scouts presented a short skit about the dangers of Global Warming and engine idling to all classes from K-5 and then a number of 3rd grade students read letters out loud to the Governing Bodies of South Orange and Maplewood, as well as the Police Chiefs of both towns. Also at the assembly were Village President Newman, Police Chief Chelel, Township Committeewoman Leventhal and Police Chief Cimino who also spoke to the students to acknowledge our own concerns for the environment and to personally thank the students for their efforts.

I was so incredibly impressed by the awareness these students had of such serious issues that we all face. I congratulate Renee Leviton for pulling this together, as well as the teachers, staff and administration of the school for including such important values in our curriculum.

It amazes me how these students not only knew about the issue at hand, but also had a general understanding of the role that local government can play. I hope these kids continue to stay involved to improve our community as they get older...and maybe some of them will even inspire their parents to get more involved now!