Until recently, students at Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary School were unfamiliar with the idea of up-cycling. Up-cycling, as explained by Albe Zakes of TerraCycle, is “the process of taking non-recyclable material that can’t be traditionally recycled and find=ng a way to directly re-purpose it into a new product. By doing that, you̵'re giving it a new life cycle thus you’re up-cycling it.” Students at Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary are collecting, sorting, packing and sending drink pouches, chip bags, zipper style bags and Nabisco and Keebler cookie wrappers to TerraCycle. They will receive 2 cents per container for their efforts. Special needs teachers Emma-Lou Edwards and Lindy Hylton are coordinating the ongoing project.