Daniel Warren students celebrated the 43^rd annual Earth Day on April 22 with a lively, interactive concert sponsored by the Rye Neck PTSA.

 

By Janice Llanes Fabry

 

Daniel Warren students celebrated the 43^rd annual Earth Day on April 22 with a lively, interactive concert sponsored by the Rye Neck PTSA. Bringing the ecology show “The Lean Green Cleanup Machine” to the elementary school, popular musician Jay Mankita inspired the young crowd with his award-winning songs and rousing anecdotes.

 

“This kind of event brings awareness to the Earth and to sustainability, which we’re all very conscious about here all year long,” said Interim Principal Jane Scheinman. “Our teachers prepared the students, the PTSA made it possible, and the children loved it.”

 

Daniel Warren’s entire student body, grades K through 2, assembled in the auditorium to celebrate the planet. Mankita set the tone at the onset by singing “Happy Earth Day” and talking about his unusual musical instruments. In an effort to reuse and recycle, his percussion instruments are created from objects the children are familiar with, from serving pans and drums held together by rubber bands to scrap wood, washers, magnets, and Velcro.

 

Accompanied by music teacher Craig Peterson on keyboard, Mankita performed his hit “Litterbug, No Way” on the guitar as the kids sang along. Through earth-friendly lyrics, catchy tunes, and dance, he encouraged the children to clean up their communities, grow their own food, and play with their friends out in nature. At the same time, he discouraged them from using plastic water bottles, wasting electricity, and littering.

 

“Nature and the beautiful world around us is who we are. We belong to this world and this world belongs to us,” said the entertainer, who travels in a Veggie Voyager, a van that runs on recycled vegetable oil and “smells like French fries.”