Ashland County Solid Waste District education coordinator Nancy Earick, left, poses with Edison Elementary School first grade teacher Jo Myers and her class, which collected 123.12 pounds of aluminum pop tabs (more than 156,000 tabs) in an Earth Day contest.  TOM E. PUSKAR/ASHLAND TIMES-GAZETTE

Ashland County elementary school kids pound out the tabs in recycling contest

Tom E. Puskar
Ashland Times Gazette

ASHLAND − With Earth Day approaching, Ashland County Solid Waste District education coordinator Nancy Earick approached teachers about competing in an aluminum tab contest.
The contest ran Oct. 1-March 30, with 40 teachers and classrooms participating in a recycling contest.  Students from Regan, Edison, Ashland Christian, Mapleton, Hillsdale, Black River and McMullen elementary schools collected 512 pounds of aluminum tabs, surpassing 2022's collection of 500 pounds of tabs. |
The winning classroom Jo Myers' first grade class at Regan Elementary School.  They collected 123.12 pounds of aluminum tabs and more than 156,000 tabs.  Students received pencils with erasers and an ice cream treat for their effort.
The tabs that were collected were delivered to Akron's Ronald McDonald House, and the money raised from the tabs will help to fund the charity.  Ronald McDonald House uses the money from the tabs for items needed to help families have a place to stay while their child is in Akron Children's Hospital.
Ashland County schools are now in the Millennium Club at the facility with having donated 1,012 pounds of pop tabs in the past two years.