OXNARD : Students’ Waste Eating Worms Bound for D.C.

After months of pampering worms in bins with apple peels and coffee grounds, a class of Oxnard fifth- and sixth-graders will see their science project compete against students in a nationwide contest in Washington, D.C.

Four students at Emilie Ritchen School and their teacher, Evelyn Ybarra-Grossfield, are scheduled to fly to the nation’s capital and present their class project on June 25.

The project, which illustrates worm composting, shows how the subterranean creatures eat food waste and reduce trash.

For six months, students filled bins with moist newspapers to provide a bed for the worms. Then they fed them food wastes, including bread and fruit and vegetable peels.

On May 16, the class submitted the project to a competition sponsored by the California Energy Extension in Sacramento. The Oxnard class won third place among the state’s 15 entries.

“After we collected trash for so long, it is a real treat to be part of a national competition,” said Ybarra-Grossfield. “The kids are not only excited about the competition, but they have also learned about energy conservation.”

Students took the worm bins home and shared the composting technique with their families.

“Everyone in my family now has a worm bin,” said Araceli Morales, 13, who was one of the students who went to Sacramento for the state competition. “It is fun to see the warms eating the trash.” Ricardo Vega, 11, also went to Sacramento to represent the class.

Jessica Craven, recycling intern with the city of Oxnard recycling program, praised the students for taking the experiments home.

“They were inspired by the idea of using warms to reduce waste, and they took the project one step beyond the classroom,” Craven said.

As part of a recycling awareness program, Craven said, she has presented the worm composting technique to more than 30 schools in Oxnard, but no one took it seriously before Ybarra-Grossfield’s class. “They have become a lesson to the other kids,” Craven said. “I wish other kids would do the same.”

Ybarra-Grossfield is now requesting donations from congressional representatives to raise money to take four of the classroom’s 35 students to Washington. Students are washing cars and selling candy to raise money.

To donate money to the project, call 981-9428.