Don't Drop The Top! Mural
written by Jessica Mense
written by Jessica Mense
Sophia Mense helped Poolesville Elementary School (PES) students make a mural out of bottle caps. As seen in the above picture the mural contains a sea turtle, a seal, an octopus, a few fish, crabs, coral, sand, a bird, and a dolphin, all in the ocean in front of a sunset. Although it took 6 weeks to do it, according to Sophia it paid off.
Sophia went to school at PES and John Poole Middle School (JPMS). She is now in tenth grade in the Global Ecology House at Poolesville High School. Sophia is a Girl Scout and she has been since second grade. She earned her bronze award and silver award. The mural is part of her gold award project. She really cares about bottle caps and what they do to marine life.
Sophia created a YouTube video that was shown to all PES students. With the video she taught them how a bottle cap can harm marine life. She taught them that when you drop a bottle cap on the ground, when it rains it goes into the drain then into the Chesapeake Bay, and eventually into the ocean. A lot of marine animals die because they eat the caps and think its food and die of starvation. At the end of the video Sophia invited all PES students to submit design ideas for the mural. She received 131 drawings! The final design used a lot of their ideas.
Sophia organized an after-school club for students to learn about the environment and build the mural. 24 students signed up for it. There were many adult and older students that were also helping to build the mural.
The Mural with be hung in the all purpose room of PES for all students to see. Sophia hopes that mural will bring the message of the importance of not dropping the cap to all the students and visitors of PES.
Sophia also inspired her little sister, Jessica Mense, to create a mural of her own, at JPMS. To learn more about Sophia's project and the story behind it visit dontdropthetop.weebly.com. To learn more about Jessica's mural, click on the link on the left of this page to the JPMS Bottle Top Mural.
Sophia went to school at PES and John Poole Middle School (JPMS). She is now in tenth grade in the Global Ecology House at Poolesville High School. Sophia is a Girl Scout and she has been since second grade. She earned her bronze award and silver award. The mural is part of her gold award project. She really cares about bottle caps and what they do to marine life.
Sophia created a YouTube video that was shown to all PES students. With the video she taught them how a bottle cap can harm marine life. She taught them that when you drop a bottle cap on the ground, when it rains it goes into the drain then into the Chesapeake Bay, and eventually into the ocean. A lot of marine animals die because they eat the caps and think its food and die of starvation. At the end of the video Sophia invited all PES students to submit design ideas for the mural. She received 131 drawings! The final design used a lot of their ideas.
Sophia organized an after-school club for students to learn about the environment and build the mural. 24 students signed up for it. There were many adult and older students that were also helping to build the mural.
The Mural with be hung in the all purpose room of PES for all students to see. Sophia hopes that mural will bring the message of the importance of not dropping the cap to all the students and visitors of PES.
Sophia also inspired her little sister, Jessica Mense, to create a mural of her own, at JPMS. To learn more about Sophia's project and the story behind it visit dontdropthetop.weebly.com. To learn more about Jessica's mural, click on the link on the left of this page to the JPMS Bottle Top Mural.