The next day at school, I can’t wait to talk to my friends about Earth Day. It’s less than two weeks away! As soon as I walk into my classroom, I spot Cara, Lucy, and Paula.

“Hey, y’all,” I say. “The big kids are doing a recycling project for Earth Day. I need you to help me think up the perfect second-grade project.”

My friends are all quiet for a long time. I watch the hands on the clock move slowly. I hope they think of something soon, or the bell will ring!

I wait and wait. Paula scribbles some notes on her paper. I wait some more.

Cara suddenly gasps. “I’ve got it!” she shouts, dragging us over to the window by the playground. “What do you see out there?”

Outside some boys are running around the playground. They jump on the sit-n-spin and run under the slide. If they don’t get to class soon, they’ll be late!

Lucy shrugs. “A playground,” she says. “What am I supposed to see?”

I press my face against the window glass, hoping to see what Cara is seeing. But I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be looking for.

“Our playground is really dirty!” Cara says.

Cara is right. There are pieces of trash lying on the ground and dead leaves hugging the edge of the fence. On the far side of the playground, one swing is missing part of its chain. It dangles in the wind like an odd bird with a broken wing. And the flower beds are full of dirt, just begging for some spring flowers.

“We can clean it up for Earth Day!” Cara says.

Lucy, Paula, and I nod. “Cleaning up the playground is going to be a lot of work,” Lucy says. “It could take weeks to get everything done!”

“We need some more kids to help us!” I say.

“I think we need a grown-up to help us, too,” Paula says. “We should go talk to Ms. Corazón.”

“That’s a great idea!” I say. Paula is so smart.

We don’t waste a single minute. Our teacher is writing today’s assignments on the board, so I march right up and tap her on the arm.

“Yes, Kylie Jean?” she replies as she keeps on writing. She doesn’t even look, but she knows it’s me! Maybe that saying about teachers having eyes in the backs of their heads is true!

“Can we talk to you?” I ask.

Ms. Corazón turns around and looks at us. “Is everything okay?” she asks.

“We’re fine,” Lucy says. “But everything is not okay. Our playground is sad and dirty!”

I add, “We want to give it a makeover for Earth Day!”

Ms. Corazón walks over to the window. “I see what you mean,” she says with a frown. “Maybe the other second grade class can help us?”

I exclaim, “Oh, what a great idea!”

“I told you we needed a grown-up!” Paula says.

Ms. Corazón sits down at her desk and writes a note. “Will you girls take this down to the principal’s office?” she asks.

Lucy, Paula, Cara, and I nod. We’re super curious about what the note says, but we don’t peek. We hand it to the school secretary, who reads the note, makes a quick phone call, and writes out another note for us to take back to our teacher.

“The principal will meet us on the playground during recess!” Ms. Corazón says when she finishes reading the note.

“Yay!” we all cheer. Our playground project is taking off!

Ms. Corazón decides to let us work on our playground plan instead of doing our science assignment. My friends and I sit down to brainstorm ideas. We are studying the environment, so we promise to reuse, recycle, and renew items on the playground.

“We can repair and repaint the old equipment!” Cara says.

“And reuse the old wooden trash barrels to make new planters!” Lucy adds.

“Maybe we could get someone to donate some old grain barrels,” I suggest. “We can recycle them into trash cans!”

While Cara and I write out the plan, Lucy and Paula work on drawing what we have in mind. Lucy suggests we get some extra barrels for recycling soda cans and water bottles as well. We also want to put new plants in the flower beds and planters.

“Don’t forget to add stepping stones for a walking path,” Cara reminds me.

I nod. “How about some benches to sit on, too?” I suggest.

“I love that idea!” Lucy agrees. “Paula and I will draw them by the flower beds.”

Right before recess, we show Ms. Corazón our work. “You girls have done a great job!” she tells us. “I’m sure Mr. Johnson will support our playground project when he sees this!”

We line up and head outside. The principal, Mr. Johnson, is waiting for us by the broken swings. He is wearing a brown suit and a tie with little green leaves on it. “Hello, girls,” he says. “I hear you have an idea to spruce up our playground. Do you have your plans written down?”

Cara hands him a green folder. “Yes, sir, we do,” she replies politely.

Mr. Johnson studies our plan and drawings. “Girls, I am impressed,” he says. “You saw a problem and came up with a plan to fix it.”

My friends and I grin at each other. We are happy as can be about our playground project!

“Do you have a timeline for getting this done?” Mr. Johnson asks us.

I nod eagerly. “Yes, sir. The sooner, the better!”

My friends and I decide Saturday will be our playground-makeover day. That will give us a few days to get ready and get supplies for our project.

My friends and I call ourselves the Green Team! We are so excited. The best part is, when we’re done, our playground will be a safe place for kids to play, and it will be good for planet Earth, too!