Lewis Center for Educational Research

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Designed by the Green Club and paid for by a YELC Grant

THE NEED... The AAE is committed to giving each students and family a comprehensive and academically excellent educational opportunity.  To do this with limited state and federal funding during difficult economic times has been hard. The staff has taken pay cuts, parents and students have chipped in and we continue to move forward.
       A comprehensive program at the AAE requires moving forward on developing a gym, sports fields and classrooms, including a permanent elementary campus.  Raising capital funds in this climate seems improbable at best.  However, as so often happens, a solution that we didn't expect has suddenly appeared. Mr. Dan Tate of Majestic Land Company in Hesperia and the President of the Don Ferrarese Foundation came up with an idea an approached the AAE  to put that idea into practice.

THE BIG IDEA...  The AAE and most businesses rent bins from various waste management companies. Some of these bins are only used for the collection of recyclable materials.  For the AAE and its three campuses, rental fees cost $10,000 annually AND the AAE is not reimbursed for the monetary value of the materials collected. Here is where Dan Tate saw an opportunity that would benefit both the school and the Ferrarese Foundation. Dan created a not-for-profit subsidiary company called Majestic Recycling that would provide free recycling bins (saving the AAE  $10,000 annually), collect, sort, recycle AND return back to the AAE the full value* of the materials collected by our school community. Providing the AAE  collects enough materials on a monthly basis, Majestic Recycling will be able to pay for it overhead costs AND then invest remaining income into the Ferrarese Foundation which provides Scholarships for graduating seniors. 
THE PROGRAM... The AAE Recycles movement is more than a fundraiser. AAE Recycles represents a small shift in our personal, family and school community culture to directly support children, our societies most valuable resource, by encouraging everyone in our school community to become better stewards of our planet's limited resources. All that is required is a little "rethinking" what we do with our "trash" and the "retooling" of our actions to make "trash" a revenue source that  can be used fund programs at the AAE . No additional selling or buying is required on the part of students or parents.  
NOW ITS YOUR TURN...   To increase the amount of recycling and funding the AAE will receive, we are asking you to get involved by routinely bringing your plastic, aluminum, paper and cardboard to your student's campus.  When students are dropped off at the Mojave River Campus there will have students each week representing various groups and clubs to collect the materials right from the cars, or your child can simply bring the recycling and place it one of the specially marked bins provided near each drop off.  At Corwin and Thunderbird there will be receptacles in the classrooms for students to place the recyclables in. There will also be receptacles around each campus to collect the recyclables. If each student-family participates, it is projected that  over $30,000 can be raised annually.  Please consider how you can join the AAE Recycles team!
       For ideas and more information on how to organize a home recycling center, what can be recycled, where your items can be recycled at each campus, or to check out our growing list of AAE Recycles FAQ's or just to ask a question or leave a comment just click on a highlighted links.

* The AAE  will get the full value of all CRVs on plastic and aluminum and 50% of the recyclable value for paper and cardboard that is collected,with the Ferrarese Foundation getting the other half. 

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.

One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

By participating in the AAE Recycles program during the course of your son's or daughters career here, you can make a difference in their lives by being an example of good stewardship at home, by adding to and aiding the advancement of programs on campus, and by directly conserving natural resources by reusing and recycling resources rather than letting them become part of a landfill.