When he was a child, Nelson Molina’s mother always said “If someone can use it, don’t throw it away!” This mindset shaped Molina’s life, creating deep-seated stewardship. Even as a child, Molina would rescue items from the trash by repainting, adding parts, and otherwise changing the items to make them fresh and exciting. When he grew up, Molina became a sanitation worker in NYC, and continued this work that began in his childhood. Ultimately, Molina saved so many things from the garbage truck that a museum exhibit was created! Treasures in the Trash is an exhibit of over 45,000 items retired NYC sanitation worker, Nelson Molina, saved from the garbage truck!
This spring, kindergarteners at FSP considered the trash at their own homes and upcycled their own items to create a Treasures in the Trash exhibit in the meeting room at FSP.
One part of this exhibit was a village of cardboard houses that kindergarteners and their seventh-grade buddies built together. After reading the book, We Move Together, children created building plans, noticing intentional ways that people with a wide range of abilities could enjoy and access their buildings. Different groups had different approaches. Some made slides to exit a castle tower; some made wheelchair-accessible swings; some made zip lines that would carry wheelchairs, while other groups decided to add braille to their designs.
Students in Nicole, Carie, and Robin’s classes reflected on the Quaker values: Stewardship and Equality.
“We built a house on wheels with a zipline and a tent on the roof. We added a lot of stickers, too. “
“Whoever you are, whatever your ability, you can have fun in this house!”
“I love upcycling. I didn’t know about upcycling before. But now I know that if you have a box that you don’t need to put in your trash or recycling. You can turn it into something great. Since the museum, I’ve been upcycling all the time!”
“We thought about how it could be a space for people who are blind. We added braille. Building it together was a lot of fun because we both had lots of ideas. “
“We had to take good care of the materials that we used. We looked for different materials that we could use from the recycling bins. “
“I made a dream house. It had all the colors and was made out of recycled materials. “
“At first, we had a lot of ideas, but then we simplified. We made sure to put a ramp at the front door. Then we put a slide in, but needed to think about how someone who needed the ramp would get to the slide. We moved the slide, and then it was simpler, and looked like it was even more fun. “