An educator always strives to impart knowledge to students and to inspire them, but often it is difficult for even the most skilled and dedicated teacher to know how successfully those goals are met. There should be little difficulty measuring the impact Edna Clemens, a teacher at Sequatchie County Middle School, has had on the students and the community she serves.

Her stature in the community is not difficult to measure. She’s respected by her colleagues and adored by her students. She’s also the motivating force behind a long-standing recycling program that has benefited the school, the city of Dunlap and Sequatchie County for nearly two decades.

The recycling project began in 1992 when students in a club founded by Ms. Clemens told her they wanted to start a recycling program. Ms. Clemens complied. She could hardly have known then how long the program would continue or the benefits it would bring to the community. They are considerable.

Over the years, the recycling program has taught important lessons to students. Kate Sanders, a current student and participant in the recycling program is typical. She says she enjoys participating in the program and has learned the value of recycling. It’s a lesson she’s already passed on to another generation. “I have started recycling paper and cans more at home. I have taught my parents about it.”

She’s not alone in spreading the word. Many other parents have learned to recycle because of their children’s involvement with the program initiated by Ms. Clemens.

Indeed the middle school’s recycling program has an enormous reach. Students recycle aluminum, paper and plastic. Every classroom has recycle receptacles and the school provides bins for aluminum and paper so residents can drop off recyclable items. The bins at the school, Ms. Clemens says, are the only place in the county where such recyclable items are collected. The material collected — 66,000 pounds of paper recycled just last year — and thus kept out of landfills — is significant.

Students regularly collect and sort the items so they can be sold. County officials and teachers take the material to Chattanooga to be sold. Over the years, a considerable amount of money has been earned from the sales. Proceeds have paid for flag poles, picnic tables, an outdoor basketball court, an outdoor classroom and a landscaped common area at the school. The school and its students clearly benefit from the work of the those involved in the recycling program.

Though the amount dealers pay for recycled material is down — the price for a load of paper, once about $100, has fallen to about $27 recently, there’s little chance the school’s recycling effort will end, even though Ms. Clemens says she plans to retire this year. Neither students nor a growing segment of the community will allow that to occur.

They understandably appreciate the lasting value of a program that imparts important lessons to students, that continues to teach county residents to value the environment and that helps to beautify the school and the community. The fact that they do is powerful testimony to Ms. Clemen’s ability to impart knowledge and to inspire her students and residents of Sequatchie County.