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On Tuesday, the little tikes of the First Presbyterian Montessori began their third annual Earth Day celebration by helping keep LaGrange clean.

“For the last three years as part of our study, leading up to Earth Day and our art auction, we discuss different ways of how we can take care of the environment on our Earth. One of the ways that we’ve done that is by doing the local trash pick-up with Leaving LaGrange Better than How You Found It,” Kayla Jackson, Red Room instructor at First Presbyterian, said.

Jackson said children get the chance to participate in many different activities throughout the year teaching them about keeping trash out of our waterways and maintaining the environment.

“The kids have taken to it very well. A couple of them have gotten to do it two years in a row, and it’s definitely something that they look forward to every year,” Jackson said.

“I actually came into school this week on Monday as we got back from spring break wearing my Leaving LaGrange Better t-shirt and the kids who cannot read yet were still able to tell me what it meant. They held on to that information for the entire year, and I was very impressed.”

Along with helping pick up trash, Jackson said the children are also learning about recycling and preservation.

“We learned all kinds of different information about life cycles, and how important it is to keep things out of our waterways for the safety of the animals and not only the animals for their life, but we also don’t want to consume animals that have been eating plastic as well,” Jackson said.

“We hope that because we are a preschool and kindergarten this is something the children will take with them to their next school and in their communities to help spread awareness to our community about how important it is to keep our community clean.”

As a part of their Earth Day celebration, Jackson said the school holds a silent auction filled with art created by the kids.

“Every April on the Thursday before Earth Day, we hold a big silent art auction, filled with artwork our children have created from the entire year and have a celebration filled with Earth Day-themed activities,” Jackson said.

“During the celebration, they may make bird feeders or binoculars and most of the artwork that they make consists of materials that we’re able to reduce, reuse or recycle in some way.”

LaGrange Parks Director Michael Coniglio also spoke to classes about the importance of keeping the community clean. The city will hold its own annual cleanup on Friday.