SIMI VALLEY : Students Pledge to Aid Environment

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton commended students at Hillside Junior High School on Thursday for pledging to help save the Earth.

The students and the mayor recited the pledge:

“We need a clean and healthy Earth, now and forever. Therefore, I promise to remember that I am not alone on this planet. I promise to use only what I need and to take no more than that. I promise to start with myself, to make my school, my home, my community, my nation and our Earth a better place for all living things.”

The school’s environmental club and other organizations have helped establish paper and aluminum recycling programs on campus.

Stratton encouraged the students to continue working for the environment.

“It’s an excellent opportunity for you to find out how you can help your community and, more importantly, you’re going to have fun,” Stratton said. Principal Kathryn Scroggin said the environment is only one aspect of the school’s global awareness program, which teachers initiated in September.

As part of the program, Scroggin said, some students have begun a letter-writing campaign to American troops in Saudi Arabia. Others will contribute Christmas gifts to needy people.

“What we’re trying to do is to get students to tie into the community and the world around them and to show them that they can make an impact in a personal way,” Scroggin said.