CNN Call to Earth Student Showcase Attributes

Another year of CNN’s annual call to action has come and gone, reminding us how impactful collective action can be. Each year, CNN’s Call to Earth Day documents the ways we all make a difference all year long. This year’s theme was “guard your greenspace.”

Captain Planet Foundation reached out to youth to share, creatively, the ways they both guard greenspace and guard their PLG gardens! We were impressed with the many drawings, videos, and written submissions received. Lines from a submitted poem say it all:

The Garden that has many young and many old
The Garden that possesses many different plants and greenery
The Garden that has some rotten plants and some fresh
Vines will grow long and tall, and vines will also grow short and stumpy
But still, as hard as you try, you can’t manage every plant
This is a garden to protect, empower and grow

– Ryan, middle schooler, Atlanta, GA

Ryan, is a student sharing from the PLG garden at Martin Luther King Middle School in Atlanta. Ryan said his poem was inspired by a “ . . . place where students are nurtured and cultivated. Like any garden, a school requires time, love, and care to help every seed grow and thrive. Both should be protected.”

We hope you’ll enjoy this showcase of creativity, meaning, and making a difference.

Crossfield Elementary School in Herndon, Virginia

Crossfield Elementary School in Herndon, Virginia submitted several creative expressions. The school was awarded a New Garden Installation grant from Cox Enterprises in the spring of 2024. The garden was installed in the fall of 2024 with the help of Warner Brothers Discovery on their annual Impact Day with 6000 volunteers around the world coming together to make an impact in a variety of ways.

First is an inspirational video highlighting the sustainability initiatives of the school’s Get2Green Team submitted by Crossfield educator, Eleanor Jacobson.

Crossfield Elementary school educator and 2025 CPF certified Gardeneer Linda Cleary’s 2nd grade students submitted drawings of their guardians of their garden. From adorable, protective super celery plants and a caped carrot to a colorful, watchful garden gnome, enjoy these enchanted garden guards. CPF certified Gardeneer’s are a community of PLG educators all across the country dedicated to the ever expanding learning that gardens can bring to students.

CNN Call to Earth Student Drawing Carrot — “My inspiration was super hero’s and vegetable garden so I made Super Carrot. My belief is to stop littering around the planet.”

CNN Call to Earth Student Drawing Fairy — “… being a guardian didn’t mean being tough, it meant paying attention to the things that are little. Nature also needs love, no matter what.”

CNN Call to Earth Student Drawing Ghost — “I drew a ghost garden because it is close to Halloween! I always recycle and reuse. I plant instead of buying, and I like helping animals when they get stuck in the sticky trap.”

CNN Call to Earth Student Drawing Bird — “… I thought about birds because they eat bugs. Birds can also fertilize the soil.”

CNN Call to Earth Student Drawing Gnome — “I was inspired to draw a garden gnome from a show I’ve watched in which the gnome was standing next to a bush watching over the garden from trampled feet.”

CNN Call to Earth Student Drawing Celery — “My inspiration was a celery plant – nobody likes celery, a big leavey healthy plant! Celery would be good to protect your garden because what is scarier than a huge celery plant!”

CNN Call to Earth Student Drawing Captain Planet — Save the Earth

CNN Call to Earth Student Drawing Tshirts — “I made ideas for T-shirts that have food and things that help the environment.”

Bolton Academy PLG Garden in Atlanta

Since 2010, at the Bolton Academy PLG Garden in Atlanta, students do all they can to guard their garden. From raised beds to keep out the bunnies, worms that build soil health, beneficial bugs that eat the garden’s predator bugs, and beyond. We can all learn from these professionally composed, student reporters guided by educator and CPF 2026 Gardeneer Monica Fowler in her Garden Innovation Lab.

PLG school Henderson Mill Elementary, in Dekalb County, Georgia

Eight year old Ailana, Ms. Santos’ student from PLG school Henderson Mill Elementary, in Dekalb County, Georgia, shared emphatically, “I do not like when people litter.” Ailana has always picked up trash, while learning to “be the change you want to see in the world.” She penned this colorful drawing of herself picking up trash. Ms. Santos shared, “she will stop no matter what we are doing to clean up another’s mess. I am so proud of my little girl.”

CNN Call to Earth Student Showcase — Eight year old Ailana, Ms. Santos’ student from PLG school Henderson Mill Elementary, in Dekalb County, Georgia, shared emphatically, “I do not like when people litter.”

Pioneer Union Elementary School in Somerset, California

The garden Pioneer Union Elementary School in Somerset, California has been growing since 2015. In 2024, Pioneer was awarded an Enhancement Grant from The Raley’s Companies. The grant includes a Mobile Cooking Cart Kit with a Vitamix, induction burner, and full kitchen of utensils. This lively student reporter takes us through the garden, as well as harvesting, utilizing PLG tools, and creating a delicious afternoon treat.

Project Learning Garden students will continue to make a difference all year long. Captain Planet Foundation and their generous partners will continue to offer both resources and support. This year donated Vitamix blenders were given to 35 dedicated CPF certified Gardeneer educators for personal use. Kellogg’s Garden Products donated pollinator plants to 100 PLG educators, because these plants and the pollinators they attract are true guardians of the garden, both strengthening the garden and repelling unwanted predators.

Beyond the PLG world, from Denver, to Nigeria, to Australia and points in between, several students and schools shared their creative insights, endeavors, and inspiration.

Click on the following link: CNN Call to Earth International Creative Showcase to see more submissions.