Southeastern Community College welcomed more than 500 fourth graders to campus on April 18 to celebrate Earth Day, engage in hands-on activities and learn about animals. Student Engagement Coordinator Katie Floyd said the event was a “complete success” and was made possible in cooperation with SCC’s Sustainability Committee. 

“It was really fun to see all the 4th graders on campus exploring SCC and hopefully making some memories,” Floyd said. “For a lot of them, this will be their first memory of SCC. Since we haven’t done this in several years, I think it was a great event to mark its comeback.” 

SCC hosted students from Edgewood Elementary School, Chadbourn Elementary School, Old Dock, Williams Township, Tabor City, West Columbus and Hallsboro-Artesia.  

Floyd’s favorite part of the event was the bus arrival and welcoming students to campus. She loved seeing the students lined up on the front lawn and having them together in one large group before they dispersed into their smaller stations. 

Students visited stations spread across campus. Presenters consisted of the Children’s Museum of Wilmington, the Columbus County Beekeepers Association, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Whiteville, Shizzy’s Wildcat Rescue, Hackney Deans, SCC Agribusiness Instructor Dawn Hinshaw, and representatives from water and soil conservation and wildlife rehabilitation.  

At next year’s Earth Day event, Floyd hopes to bring back the poster contest from years past. She remembers winning the poster contest at SCC’s Earth Day event when she was a 4th grader.  

“It was great having more than 500 fourth graders on campus last week celebrating Earth Day,” SCC President Dr. Chris English said. “One of the things I wanted them to know was that it is their future, and they need to take care of the environment. They need to understand our impacts and creating something sustainable.” 

English said he enjoyed watching the students move from station to station and engaging with the activities during the day.  

“I want to thank Columbus County Schools and Whiteville City Schools for their participation,” English said.