The News From MGWS

State board members of Maine Educators of the Gifted and Talented (MEGAT) are
delighted to announce they have selected Sophie Towle as the 2009 Maine Distinguished Student.
Sophie, the daughter of Fred and Trish Towle, is a fifth grade student at Marshwood Great Works
School in South Berwick, Maine. Two years ago, when she was a third grader, Sophie began to
worry about the damage humans were doing to our earth. But instead of just worrying, Sophie
decided there were things she could do at least about her school’s impact on the environment. She
began with her school’s milk cartons. First, she tried chipping them and adding them to her own
family’s compost pile. Unfortunately, they failed to break down and shredded milk cartons blew
around their yard. Undaunted, young Sophie emailed the company that manufactures most of the
milk cartons used in the United States. With their help, Sophie was able to find a compost facility
in her area that would take the cartons. For Sophie, though, that was only the beginning! From
there she was able to add the food wastes to the compost stream. Next she presented information
that demonstrated use of reusable silverware rather than plastic was not only more
environmentally conscious but would save the food service money. Finally she convinced her
school to purchase compost able sugar cane bowls to replace the Styrofoam ones used in the salad
bar. She even brought worms into three classrooms so the students could set up worm compost
bins for the snack food waste in their classrooms.
Grace Jacobs, the coordinator of Gifted and Talented services in MSAD #35, describes
says Sophie is “not only an exceptional student, but she is also a spirited and passionate change
agent.” Her principal, Mr. Jerry Burnell, says: “Sophie is a youngster that not only gets passionate
over an issue but looks to find solutions. It is her drive to make a difference that has impressed
me so much.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 12:12 pm and is filed under People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.