Contact: Elenor Hodges, Executive Director
Telephone: (703) 228-6427
E-mail: elenor@arlingtonenvironment.org

Arlington, Va., April 27, 2006 - On Thursday, April 27, 300 students from Drew Model School in Arlington will learn what they can do to throw away less trash by practicing the three R’s: reducing, reusing, and recycling. These students will be taking part in an assembly program organized by Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE) in partnership with the Americorps National Community Civilian Corps (NCCC). Other partners include the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services and the Arlington Public Schools Science Office.

The assembly will be held at Drew Model School, 3500 23rd Street South, Arlington. The media and public are invited to a ceremony at the school on April 27 at 10:00 a.m. Ms. Mary Hynes from the Arlington School Board and Mr. Paul Ferguson from the Arlington County Board are scheduled to speak.

During the event, the Americorps volunteers will be presenting an assembly featuring a garbage gremlin character, with information about what kids can do to protect the environment through activities including buying products with less packaging, giving items no longer used to charity, and recycling.

A total of 1,850 students from 8 schools are taking part in activities led by Americorps volunteers from April 21 through May 5. Americorps NCCC is a national residential program that employs teams of 10 corps members to perform community service projects in assigned regions throughout the country. For more information visit the Americorps website at www.americorps.org.

ACE is a non-profit educational and service organization serving the residents of Arlington and funded primarily by the Arlington County Department of Environmental Services. For more information about ACE please call 703-228-6427, check the website at www.arlingtonenvironment.org, or e-mail ACE at office@arlingtonenvironment.org.