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60,000 pounds. That's how many pounds of recyclable materials College Park Middle School students have collected within the last five months. That's 20,000 bags of Easter candy, 17,455 iPods and 240,000 cell phones worth of recyclable materials. Although most middle school students would prefer collecting candy, iPods and cell phones, College Park Middle School students have discovered a greater need in conservation with the help of the school-wide program, 'Race to End Waste: Conservation Begins in the Classroom.'

The environmental program, which was developed by Complete Building Corporation, a commercial general contracting company located in Charleston, SC, launched in October 2008 at College Park Middle School with the intent to educate students on sustainable and eco-friendly initiatives. The company began working with College Park Middle School as a way to embark upon their employee directed charitable giving program.

As the community's always a top priority for Complete Building Corporation, the company developed "Race to End Waste" to educate Berkley County students on environmental initiatives. They choose College Park Middle School for the program's inaugural run, but intend to expand the program to a new school in Berkley County each year. Victor Apat, Complete Building Corporation's president is excited about expanding 'Race.' "When starting a new program, you never know how people will respond to it," Apat said. "However, the passion that the College Park students have put into our program has been phenomenal. We could not have asked for a better start."

The school-wide interdisciplinary project strives to educate students, teachers and the community through various initiatives concerning conservation and sustainability. The 'Race to End Waste' program involves various competitions including the recycled mascot design competition and the classroom recycling competition. Additionally, curriculum in each subject has incorporated the principles of conservation and environmental sustainability. For example, a science class created recycled paper and a language arts class wrote PSA's and created commercials that will be previewed by elementary school students.

The students' work and progress with the program has been tracked on the 'Race to End Waste' Web site. The site, which offers an overview of the program and school, has highlighted several students who have gone above and beyond to recycle at home and in their community. Additionally, the site has tallied the progress of each classroom with the recycling competition. So far the school has collected over 60,000 pounds of recyclable materials in only five months - a number that continues to grow daily.

Although the students' enthusiasm is not completely unmotivated - the competition winners spend a day on the Spirit of South Carolina - Complete Building Corporation and the College Park Middle School teachers hope that their knowledge of sustainability and conservation will not be forgotten. "Many parents have told me that the program has changed the way their families run their household," said Kelli Roberson, a College Park Middle sixth grade teacher. "It's encouraging to know that the kids are utilizing skills that they learned through 'Race to End Waste.'"

The year-long project will end on April 16, 2009 with Complete Building Corporation unveiling a greenhouse for the students, as well as announcing winners of the mascot and classroom recycling competitions. "The competition and greenhouse ceremony are important, but our long-term goal is for the children to take the things they've learned and continue using the conservation initiatives in there daily lives," said Apat.

Complete Building Corporation's goal is to add an additional school to the program each year so that in the next ten years every middle school in Berkeley County will have conservation initiatives as part of their curriculum, as well as a greenhouse to use as a resource. Hopefully next year, another group of students will be willing to put aside their iPods and cell phones to improve the earth they live on.

For more information, please visit www.racetoendwaste.com.