Mr. Lee and the Dishwasher

You and Yours Memoir I
Mr. Lee and the Dishwasher
Karen Durand
July 10, 2008


In the 80’s the idea of being environmentally green was just emerging. Global warming was a concept still in the future for most people, and energy conservation was a choice. We respected the planet on Earth Day by picking up litter and planting trees, and there was new awareness of potential problems.
While there was no Al Gore to rally support on a national scale, the children at the James B. Edwards Elementary School where I was teaching did have a leader to look up to right there in the building. And it was not just because he was over six feet tall. Mr. Lee, the principal, was both friendly and stern. He knew every child’s name and expected the best of everyone. His coming up with an idea for my class was not unusual; that it made a difference is memorable.
The cafeteria at school during lunch time had a noisy din, despite the traffic light which monitored talking. If the green light was on, the sounds of voices and utensils hitting plastic trays filled the space. Yellow signaled a warning; it’s getting loud. Red Light! no talking was allowed. Only the whoosh of the dishwasher’s swirling water was heard. The machine ran constantly at the back of the cafeteria. When the meager time allotted for lunch was up, the students would line up by class in front of the window to hand their tray to a worker who fed the garbage pail and the dishwasher. Plastic trays and silverware went through the cycle several times each day.
One day when I took my second grade class into the cafeteria to eat lunch, the children were pleased to see that the light was green. The scent of corn dogs and French fries, a favorite choice, wafted from the kitchen. But there was a difference in the noise level. The dishwasher was silent. The children already seated were eating off of white Styrofoam plates. The usual yellow plastic trays were no where in sight because the dishwasher had broken down. For the first day it was a novelty. Everyone dumped their entire tray into the trash can instead of handing it to the worker at the window. The line moved faster and children were glad to skip out of the cafeteria to recess.
The second and third days there were still no familiar yellow trays on the serving line. “We were told that the broken part in the machine isn’t easy to locate in Charleston. It’s on order. In the meantime everyone has to use these foam trays,” said the custodian.
The use of disposables was wasteful to my thrifty mind, and it was not an example of good ecology. After lunch the class talked about Styrofoam not breaking down in the landfill for many years; those trays would be there long after the children were grown and gone. We hoped the dishwasher would be fixed soon.
Soon I was telling Mr. Lee about our discussion. I said, “The children see a problem in the cafeteria that has a ripple effect. We can’t repair the dishwasher ourselves, but we want to make sure that something is done soon.”
He listened carefully taking care to treat our concern with respect. I knew that this was a small matter compared to the work of running a large school. Mr. Lee didn’t disappoint, He gave me a suggestion that made perfect sense. “Write a letter to Dr. Davis, the district superintendent of schools,” he said. “Have your class explain why the dishwasher should be repaired immediately.”
His idea was one of empowerment. Most second graders have little awareness of the authority of the written word, but this experience showed them that giving voice to a problem can make a difference. They had an opinion, and writing a letter was one way to express it. The letter was crafted with the whole classes’ input. A student with neat handwriting made a final copy which was sent in the mail.
Dear Dr. Davis,
Please repair the dishwasher at James B. Edwards School as soon as possible. We are using Styrofoam trays everyday. These are thrown away and then become a landfill problem. We want to respect the Earth and not turn more land into dumps.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Durand’s Second Grade Class
Not too long after the letter was sent, Mr. Lee came into the classroom. “Boys and girls,” he said, “you’ve really made a difference in our school. Today the dishwasher is repaired! We won’t be using disposable trays any more. Thanks for writing that letter. The superintendent said that she rarely gets mail from a second grade class and she was impressed to see that you care about the environment.”
When we went into the cafeteria for lunch later that day, the familiar swishing of water layered the sounds of children’s voices. We knew that one small section of land was spared more trash.
The letter had personal consequences as well. From then on Mr. Lee called me Mother Earth. I always tried to live up to it.


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