Pope elementary celebrates Earth Day Published April 26, 2007 By David L. Tijerina Staff writer POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- A Native American advocate and his wife encouraged students at Pope Elementary School, April 20, to incorporate the lessons they've learned about the environment into their daily lives. Ray Littleturtle, a member of both the North Carolina Indian Commission and Lumbee tribal council and his wife, Kat Littleturtle, a renowned storyteller, were invited to speak at the campus as part of the school's Earth Day celebration and field day. Half the school's 350 students spent time at environment education stations indoors, while the other half participated in more than 30 field day activities outside which ranged from a stilt race to a mini-parachute station. The environment education stations were meant to augment information they had received in their classrooms about protecting the environment, teachers said. "Native (American) people have always thought of Mother Earth as special," Mr. Littleturtle told the students, adding that the 43rd Airlift Wing has one of the cleanest bases in the country and the students should work to keep it that way. "Everything we have needed has been provided on this earth; we should take very good care of her," Mrs. Littleturtle added. "When you get a chance to help your mother and father clean the yard, take that extra step and pick up the trash in the street," she said. Mrs. Littleturtle told the students that prior to the arrival of Europeans to this country, Native American families assigned each family member a job and while a child might have the seemingly insignificant chore of collecting twigs to start a fire, it couldn't be done without the child's help. "It's about the children working with you that will give them a sense of respect" for themselves and the Earth, Mrs. Littleturtle said, in a direct address to parents. Colonel Timothy Zadalis, 43rd Airlift Wing Commander, was also on hand to help the students kick-off the festivities. The colonel informed the students the first Earth Day was held in 1970 and was the brainchild of the late Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson, who wanted to highlight the need to protect the Earth. The colonel also told the students as a child growing up in Wisconsin he remembered seeing commercials which warned people not to eat polluted fish from Lake Michigan. To this day, he has a picture of an Earth Day celebration from the 1980's in his office, the colonel told the students. "Please help us all here at Pope pick up trash," he implored the students, telling them it was the way they could have an immediate positive impact on the environment. The students didn't just hear messages about protecting the environment during the festivities. They also had an opportunity to learn about and see the Littleturtle's 13-year-old grandson Kaya Clark perform a Lumbee traditional fancy dance and to hear Mrs. Littleturtle tell an Native American fable about why a person shouldn't brag. Asked why she thought Earth Day was important, Kellie Cutsinger, a fourth-grade student at the school, responded: "I think Earth Day is important because it will help us with our planet so we don't lose it."