Merrick students taking social action

Lately, students in one of Jennifer Meschkow’s sixth-grade classes at Levy-Lakeside Elementary School in Merrick, co-taught by Susan Holland, have been checking clothing labels to see the countries where the apparel was manufactured. Then the students use the Internet to look up working conditions in the countries, with a focus on whether child-labor laws are abused.

They have also researched healthy snacks, with a focus on creating nutritious menus to fight childhood obesity.

And the 11- and 12-year-olds have collected empty water bottles and redeemed them for five-cent deposits to raise money for Smile Train, a nonprofit organization that provides cleft plate surgery to children in need for as little as $250.

Most recently, the students took a trip to Cammans Pond, which sits beside the school, to catalogue pollution in and possible threats to the water body, where saltwater from Merrick Bay meets freshwater.

Meschkow said she has focused on social action this year. “It’s amazing how the kids just get it,” she said.