Athens Community School Brings Families Together Through “One School, One Book” Earth Day Project

An Athens Community School student’s work as part of the “One School, One Book” Earth Day Project.

From April 6-16, 2026, Athens Community School held its annual “One School, One Book” project, designed to use literature to connect classrooms, families, and communities and bring attention to important issues.

This year, Athens Community School selected The Lorax by Dr. Seuss as the book that all students would be reading for the project to coincide with Earth Day on April 22. Following the themes of the book, students and their families then participated in a variety of eco-friendly activities throughout the project, including a bottle drive and a trip to Waterville Creates for a viewing of The Lorax movie.

One of the highlights of the project was the “Trash Art” competition, which encouraged students to use recyclable objects to create artwork for categories such as “The Spirit of the Lorax,” “Most Creative,” and more. The school favorite was a Lite-Brite board made of recycled wood and plastic water bottles, which served as the pegs (pictured below).

To celebrate student and family participation in the project, two local businesses donated prizes for those who completed a feedback survey: a reusable shopping bag with the Athens Community School logo and a “Save the Bees” flower kit. Student participants also received a homework pass to forgo one homework assignment.

More student proejcts:

The project was spearheaded by Aneta Lempicka, the Athens Community School’s Title I teacher, with support from school librarian Hannah Luce, who assembled and distributed family activity packets.

Local families said they enjoyed the change of pace, with one remarking, “We are a VERY busy family, so this gave us all a chance to slow down and do something fun together.”

This story was written in collaboration with Athens Community School. To submit a good news story to the Maine DOE, please fill out the good news submission form.