Wrapped in Hope: St. Pius X/St. Leo School

Happy Saturday and welcome to the third installment of our series: Wrapped in Hope.

Today we would like to bring to light efforts at my own grade school, St. Pius X/St. Leo School (SPSL).

Shortly after I graduated from SPSL, the school (for reasons I do not know) quit recycling. Recycling would be collected in the recycling bins in classrooms, but instead of being thrown in a recycling dumpster, it was thrown in the trash.

This moment was devastating for many teachers and students in the school. But for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Catalysts to this reaction were students Colby Bluvas, Cody Borman, Jonathan Walker, Parker Herron and Elijah Utterback. They recognized that what was happening was an injustice, so they fought it—and won.

They succeeded by creating a proposal (a twenty-seven page document) outlining a path to implement recycling at SPSL along with its estimated costs. This proposal was presented by the students to the school Education Committee and the SPSL Parish Council. This proposal was eventually accepted for the 2024-2025 school year and so far has been able to collect 600 pounds of recycling and orange bag waste. This process is now led by Ms. Adrian, a teacher at SPSL.

Ms. Adrian hopes that by demonstrating a reliability in the recycling process, a composting program will be implemented at SPSL in the future.

SPSL stands as a pillar in the movement for environmental protection in Omaha. We, at The Leaflet, are extraordinarily impressed by your work. Thank you St. Pius X/St. Leo School.

~ Seamus Haney