Ardsley School Rings in Earth Day With Tom Chapin

ARDSLEY, N.Y. – Ardsley elementary students are singing, clapping and dancing their way to a greener earth.

Concord Road Elementary School welcomed Grammy Award winning singer Tom Chapin and his partner Michael Marks on Thursday as part of the school’s Earth Day celebration.

Students and teachers crowded into the gymnasium for the hour-long performance, singing along with Chapin as he played a number of his popular tunes.

“What better way to culminate our Earth Day project than with Tom Chapin,” said music teacher Frank Squillante, who was one of the teachers who helped bring the artist to Ardsley.  

Behind the singer hung a handful of donated sneakers the students and staff have been collecting since April 2. After Thursday, the gently worn shoes will be donated to the Connecticut Quest for Peace Organization.

Concord’s green education is a year-long process, Principal Tom Holland said, but Thursday’s performance was a way to bring the Earth Day learning full circle.  

“We wanted something to solidify in the student’s minds what Earth Day was about,” Holland said.

After the performance, students said they enjoyed the shoe collection and rattled off the reasons why Earth Day was important.

“I like cleaning up the earth so there’s not so much garbage,” third-grader Josh Weintraub said.

His classmate, Zach Rosenberg, agreed.

“I like talking about Earth Day so there’s not a lot of garbage in the ocean and the street,” he said.

As for Chapin, his performance scored an A+ with the students.

“He’s a good singer,” Weintraub said.

Third-grader Max Weinhouse agreed.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said.                   

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