SRU’s Children's Earth Day Celebration kicks off with interactive bike course

The Children’s Earth Day Celebration take places April 22 at the Robert A. Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research, as part of SRU’s Kaleidoscope Arts Festival. The celebration will include arts and crafts, games, live performances and earthy-friendly and interactive demonstrations.

April 20, 2017

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - Part of caring for future generations means sustaining our planet in the present. That's why the globally-recognized Earth Day will double as Children's Day at Slippery Rock University's Kaleidoscope Arts Festival from noon to 4 p.m., April 22.

The event, which will be staged at the Robert A. Macoskey Center for Sustainable Systems Education and Research, will feature a variety of activities focused on educating kids to improve themselves and the environment, including: arts and crafts, games, live performances and earthy-friendly and interactive demonstrations with local sustainability vendors.

Prior to the Children's Earth Day celebration, parents are invited to bring their children, bicycles and helmets to take part in an interactive bike ride from 9-10 a.m. in the Mihalik-Thompson Stadium parking lot. The free event, "Macoskey reCYCLES SRU," will educate and engage children about the benefits of cycling. While the program is geared toward kids ages 8-15, people all ages are encouraged to participate.

At approximately 10 a.m., SRU students will lead the children on their bikes around a campus block through three stations: the first focusing on health and wellness, the second educating them about sustaining the environment and the third with actions that children can take to apply what they learned. At the conclusion of the hour-long event, participants will receive stickers and other giveaways, including tickets to redeem for prizes at Children's Earth Day Celebration.

"Coming out to this interactive course isn't only going to teach children valuable lessons, but it's giving them really good information about how they can give back to the only home they have, our planet," said Jamie Howatneck, a senior communication major from Branscomb, California. "If we start at a young age, implementing these types of lifestyles will benefit everyone in the future."

Howatneck is one of five seniors in SRU professor Valerie Swarts' Communication Persuasion course who are organizing "Macoskey reCYCLES SRU" as part of their senior capstone project.

Events at the Macoskey Center start at 12:15 p.m. with a performance of "Gus Goes Green: A STEM Adventure," an interactive show produced by the Bright Star Children's Theatre Co., about Gus, a giant dog puppet, who leads audiences on an adventure around the globe using themes related to science, technology, engineering and math.

There also will be performances by the SRU Music Therapy Club at 2 p.m. and the New Castle Playhouse Mini Stars at 3 p.m.

MEDIA CONTACT: Justin Zackal | 724.738.4854 | justin.zackal@sru.edu