Keep Oconee Beautiful Association
A Keep America Beautiful Affiliate
Working Toward a Clean & Litter-Free Oconee
Education Program
Elementary Education programs
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KOBA’s Elementary Education program has been in existence for 17 years and reaches over 3000 students in grades 1–4 annually. We teach our county’s young people about anti-littering, littering laws, and the devastating effects littering and other contamination has on our land and water resources. The curriculum features our popular mascot, Kobie Bear, and incorporates interactive lessons and hands-on activities for reduce, reuse, recycling, and composting. All of the lessons are consistent with current South Carolina academic standards, and help the school district meet state guidelines for lessons on environmental protection. If you are interested in helping with this program, click here.
First grade students learn that Oconee County is our home, it is a beautiful place to live, and they can help keep it beautiful. This class focuses on the effects of littering, why people litter, and how we all must work together to reduce litter. Students learn “Kobie Bear’s Marching Song” and get an opportunity to be “Recycle Detectives” with a hand’s-on recycling activity.
The second grade program explores being a responsible citizen and caring for our community. Students also learn about the littering laws in Oconee County and consequences of littering. This lesson incorporates humorous storytelling and an interactive activity where the students help a litter-bug get “unstuck” from trash by making better choices.
The third grade program includes a presentation of the Enviro-Scape model and focuses on the importance of protecting our natural resources. This demonstration allows students to see how our watershed areas are affected by industrial waste, farming and construction runoff, storm water runoff from roadways, and overuse of fertilizer by housing developments and golf courses. Prevention and cleanup of these types of contaminants is also addressed.
The fourth grade program gives students an introduction to composting. Students trace the food we eat back to the soil and learn how to recycle organic waste back into the soil to make it richer. They help make a composter out of a 2-liter bottle for the classroom so they can observe the process of composting first hand.
