HANCOCK – For about three weeks, students at Gordon G. Barkell Elementary School have been taking part in a recycling program, and according to Emma Giffels they’re really into it.

Giffels, who is the Barkell AmeriCorps member, said after graduating from Western Michigan University with a degree in biology, she made an effort to find a way to work in the Upper Peninsula, which she knew from vacations. When she was interviewing for the job at Barkell, she asked if the school had a recycling program. It didn’t at the time, so she started one in September.

Right now, Giffels said the students are putting recyclable material into cardboard boxes. However, she and Bob Brunet, Hancock Public Schools district maintenance and operations manger, have ordered some 32-gallon bins to collect the material.

“I’m super-excited about that,” she said.

The collected material is placed in a dedicated dumpster outside the school building and collected by the city’s public works department.

“For now, it’s just paper and cardboard,” she said. “We’re kind of playing it by ear.”

Giffels said she will visit all the classrooms in the building to talk about recycling, and the students she’s talked to so far seem enthusiastic about moving forward with the program.

Dan Vaara, Barkell principal, said it’s hoped the recycling program will expand to include more recyclable material collected.

“We’ll make it bigger and better,” he said.

Vaara said the recycling program can also be used as part of the school’s science curriculum.

“It’s a great lesson for them to learn,” he said. “It’s a great thing for them to be part of.”

Monica Healy, Hancock Public Schools superintendent, said eventually the middle and high schools will be doing recycling.

“We’re a few steps behind the elementary,” she said. “Our biggest hurdle is the personnel to do it.”

Healy said it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to leave the moving of the bins to the dumpsters solely to the students.

Although the public works crews don’t collect the recyclables from residents during school hours, Healy said they’re working with school officials to pick up material when they’re ready.

“They’ve been very flexible with us,” she said.