Mrs. Keigher's sixth graders provide some hope for the future

Perhaps there is hope for kids. And newspapers.

The two often don't go hand in hand. More so than ever, we keep hearing about how young people don't read newspapers.

A couple weeks ago, I spoke at a career day at a local middle school. I asked each group I spoke to where they found out about stuff. "The Internet" was a common refrain. And while I didn't grill them for more detail, I don't think they were referring to their online readership of newspapers.

Ah, but then I was ever-so-heartened by Natalie Keigher's sixth-grade class at Lisle Junior High School. Keigher had the novel idea of telling her charges to read newspapers during a unit on the environment.

The timing couldn't have been better to be reading the Daily Herald. Turned out we were running the Associated Press series titled "Drugs on tap." It documented how discarded pharmaceuticals, often flushed down the toilet, are turning up in our drinking water.

"We're just reading and trying to get them comfortable about reading a newspaper and finding class-relevant material in it, and this story is right there on the front page," Keigher told reporter Justin Kmitch. "Some of the kids became really concerned about what they may actually be drinking."

So, the Lisle students began a letter-writing campaign, sending their concerns to the presidential candidates, governor, state environmental protection agency and state legislators. One of them, state Rep. Sandy Pihos of Glen Ellyn, herself a former teacher and ex-Glenbard school board member, was moved enough to start writing back. She met with them recently, lauded their efforts and encouraged them to track a bill in the state legislature that calls for pharmaceutical companies to have a system in place to properly dispose of their drugs.

And, until that procedure arrives, do you know how, aside from finding a site that accepts such materials, you're supposed to dispose of unwanted prescriptions? I wouldn't have had a clue until my wastewater treatment bill arrived the other day. It went something like this: Mash up the pills into a powder and mix with a liquid and other garbage such as coffee grounds to form an unappetizing paste. Then put the glop in an air-tight container and seal with duct tape. Then put the whole shebang in the garbage. Sheesh, I thought, no one's ever gonna do that.

But until our kids and legislators come up with a better solution, perhaps we all should take heed. Not just of how to dispose of our pills -- but how we might make the world a better place just by paying attention.

Let Mrs. Keigher's class serve as our guide.

Clarification: In last week's column I wrote about some of the divergent opinions on how to handle the National Day of Prayer. I paraphrased remarks made by NDP coordinator Diane Tillery by saying, "If others don't care for the message, let them start their own event."

Tillery wrote and suggested I misstated her remarks, which I took from a story written earlier by reporter James Fuller. His story quoted Tillery as saying, "I would say to Rev. Schneck-Skiba, good for you deciding to begin your own expression of the National Day of Prayer for our nation. Every American can observe the NDP and celebrate it as he or she wishes. Our country needs everyone's prayers."

I would have to agree I inadvertently misrepresented the tone of her comments, and for that I apologize.

jdavis@dailyherald.com