District 11, Jack Gordon Elementary School

Narratives and drawings by the students of Jack D. Gordon Elementary School.  Click an image for larger view.

David Martinez, age 11

Where I live there are people dumping in the “No Trespassing” zone and it’s getting onto the streets. I think the people who do that should go to jail. Sometimes I grab a trash bag and a garbage can and pick up the garbage in my neighborhood.

Amanda Pena, age 10

When I saw my friend’s dad cutting down his palm trees and his bamboo trees I felt that he doesn’t care about the environment. He was cutting down his trees because he didn’t like them. He just cares about himself. I think we should plant more plants and trees. 

Estephania Fiestas, age 11

Near my house where no one lives there’s grass growing so huge people throw garbage there and think of it as a dump. Men would come in trucks and throw their garbage there. Over the years it’s gotten bigger. Then a fence was put there so no one can go inside. I think these people should go to jail, but not jail jail, just in trouble for hurting the environment. 

Michael Rodriguez, age 10

Once I saw a guy throw out McDonald’s food onto the road instead of throwing it into the garbage can. Then I threw it away. I should have told that guy, “Hey, that’s bad. You can hurt people or animals.” It makes me so mad when I see someone litter.

Paul Gomez, age 11

One day at the beach I saw a man dump a whole bunch of stuff into the water. The bag he threw out might have gotten stuck on a fish. I felt like the world is becoming a dump so I picked up the garbage and threw it away. When I see someone throw something on the floor I tell him to pick it up and throw it in the garbage.

Mathew Rabionet, age 10

I live in Country Walk. I have trees and flowers in my yard. I would be sad if there were no trees or flowers because the trees make us live with apples, mangos, bananas and more things, and the flowers make my yard beautiful. When Katrina hit I was sad because almost all my trees were destroyed. Garbage cans were all over the street and so were the trees. That is how things affect my environment. 

Ramon Olmo, age 10

I’ve seen workers do good things. These workers were lifting up the trees that fell over in Hurricane Katrina. They were replanting the trees. The workers added new soil and put the trees in the holes. The next day the trees were growing. 

Armando Polo, age 10

One day I was looking through my window at the park that’s in front of my house. I saw a man in the park being rude and polluting it. Then, he was rude to me when I kindly asked him to please stop. He cursed at me. I knew he was drunk. When I saw him pick up the bottle of empty beer I thought I was in danger but, hey, the man only crushed the bottle and left. “Phew,” I said. Then I picked up the pieces of the broken bottle and put them in a bag and threw it in the garbage can.

Jacob Wan, age 10

One day in my neighborhood I saw three kids picking up trash and helping the environment. Also, their parents were helping. Then I saw people throwing trash at the lake. Ducks, geese, turtles and birds were eating it. What if the animals died from eating the trash? They will become extinct. So I helped to clean up the lake area so the animals will be safe.

Christine Collado, age 10

In my neighborhood there are lots of things that are happening in the environment. People are dumping garbage and littering, and throwing things in places that animals are getting hurt. I think people should not be allowed to eat outside of restaurants, houses, parties, clubs, etc. because when lots of people buy the food, they throw the wrappers and what they don’t eat on the floor. That also happens with the treats from school, like gum, chewies, hard candy, etc. Dumping is bad because people could slip and get bruised. And when animals drink from soda cans they can get sick and die. I think it’s hurtful and I am glad we have garbage people who come to our neighborhood to clean it.

Lourdes Machado, age 11

Outside of my house was a beautiful forest with lots of trees. One day I looked at the forest and the trees were on fire. I saw the birds flying out of the trees and bunnies come running out of the forest. I felt so sad because the animals’ environment was getting destroyed. Seeing this made me feel really bad inside my heart. I could imagine me running out of my house if it was on fire and I wouldn’t have anywhere to go and sleep.

Ashley Green, age 11

One day me and my dad were waiting for my mom to finish her meeting. A man was walking by our car and he was drinking a soda. He threw the can on the ground. That made me feel mad. “Daddy,” I said, “Why do they throw things around?” “I guess they don’t care about the environment,” he answered. A bird was looking for food and found trash instead. The bird did not get any food and was hungry.

Tiffanni Moreno, age 10

Where my house is there is a sidewalk and the people who go around there throw all these things on the ground. I see them doing it and they make me feel bad. I see them hurting the animals’ environment because the animals then have to sleep with garbage. Also in the zoo people throw food at the fish and ducks and also the animals. I don’t know why the people don’t just get a garbage can or trash bag. If they don’t, we’re going to be paying a lot of money for where we live but it will become a bad place and every person that comes to the place is going to say that we have a bad neighborhood. Everyone should just stop littering. There should be a poster about why we should stop littering.

Erick Videla, age 10

I have seen a lot of people dump trash and kids kicking garbage cans and everything fell on the floor. One day a dog ate the garbage and it died. That made me sad because they’re ruining the environment. One day I hope the security guard will catch all the people who had thrown the garbage on the floor and other places.

Daniel Rodriguez, age 10

I am so angry that man is ruining the natural environment. For example, I remember when they cut down the trees and made them into a store that no one even likes. Why did they cut down trees and ruin the animal habitat and the natural environment? One day a group of people were throwing beer bottles and cans, and garbage all over the community and they were doing graffiti on the walls and making the environment even worse. 

Gabriel Llanes, age 10

One time my neighbor threw a bottle in the street. I was riding my bike it hit the bottle and I fell. I said to him, “Why did you do that? He said, “Because I felt like it.” “But you are littering the street, and I was a victim of your trash. If I throw a bottle and you fall instead of me, you will say the same thing to me,” I said. That would be fair because he was the one that threw the garbage and if anyone should get hurt it should have been him, not me or other people.

Ricardo Marrero, age 10

I am so angry because every day when I come home I always see this girl littering in the neighborhood. One day my friend fell off his scooter because the girl threw a beer bottle at him. My friend got a scratch on his knee and elbow. I ran as fast as I could to ask him if he needed ice and he said, “Yes, please.” I went and got him ice. Afterwards, I ran into the girl. She was laughing so I laughingly punched her in her thigh. It made me feel so good I wanted to do it again. I said to her, “You’re the one who should have been hurt.”

Jonathan Fabelo, age 10

One time while driving to a party we stopped at a stop sign. I heard a loud thump!!! I turned back and saw trees falling. I was shocked. Animals dying, trees falling. I felt like crying. I wanted to get out of the car and save the environment. Then I saw a man cutting the trees down with a big machine. I got so mad at that man, but it was too late for me to do anything. The car I was in took off.

Kevin Ramirez, age 11

One day I was with my friend and we were eating candy, and he just threw the wrapper on the ground in the yard. I told him to pick it up and throw it away in his house. He did and that made me feel better. I helped the block. Every kid or person should not litter. 

Carlos Gonzalez, age 10

I remember one day when people were dumping stuff in a canal and killing turtles, fish and alligators. I was very mad because now there are no more fish in the canal. The water is polluted. I think the people should be forced to clean up the mess they made because that way it could be a natural and safe environment again.