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[Music]
Minuette Rodriguez Harrison: I’m referring to the ability of the students to perceive
what happens around them. Not only to perceive it, but understand it, and then for the students
themselves to give the solutions for change.
NARRATOR: Incorporating ballet in her science classes at the Julian E. Blanco Dancing School
in San Juan, Puerto Rico is an innovative approach that Minnuette Rodriguez Harrison
uses to enhance her students’ environmental awareness.
Rodriguez Harrison: For example, I had a group of students who presented the stages of the
butterfly through ballet. Why were they able to do that? Because they already knew about
it, they already had the scientific knowhow, about the phases of the butterfly and they
were able to transmit that through ballet.
NARRATOR: Rodriguez Harrison has also gotten the local community involved.
Rodriguez Harrison: In the community, for example, some people who live nearby the school
have begun to grow plants that are important for the butterflies, and then, when at school,
when we release the butterflies, they are starting to find an oasis of the plants they need
to thrive. And, we’ve been able to make that connection between the school and the community.
NARRATOR: Rodriguez Harrison says her students have learned that small changes in their daily
lives can result in big changes to protect the environment.
Rodriguez Harrison: The fact that the students are exposed to environmental education leads
them to contribute to a better world.
NARRATOR: For her efforts, Rodriguez Harrison received the Presidential Innovation Award
for Environmental Educators from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
[Music]