{"id":281452,"date":"2026-04-23T04:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T04:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/281452\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T04:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T04:12:10","slug":"san-francisco-school-cleans-up-for-earth-day-with-inspiration-from-pixar-film-hoppers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/281452\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco school cleans up for Earth Day with inspiration from Pixar film ‘Hoppers’"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Earth Day<\/a> is turning into a hands-on lesson at one San Francisco school, with inspiration coming from Pixar’s newest film, “Hoppers.” To celebrate the movie, Disney is teaming up with Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots<\/a> program to help connect children with nature.<\/p>\n

Third graders from St. Thomas More Catholic School spent part of the day collecting trash around their campus- armed with garbage bags, gloves and lots of energy.<\/p>\n

The Earth Day cleanup sent students around the school on a mission to pick up litter and learn about protecting the environment. Nine-year-old Benicio Padilla said the effort quickly added up.<\/p>\n

“How much garbage did you pick up Wednesday?” he was asked. “Probably like 30 pieces. A lot of it’s small, though,” Benicio said.<\/p>\n

Earth Day 2026: What you can do to promote conservation, climate action<\/a><\/p>\n

The cleanup was inspired by “Hoppers,” a Disney and Pixar film that focuses on improving conditions for animals and the environment.<\/p>\n

“Hoppers is about a young girl who really wants to improve conditions for the animals in her neighborhood,” said Zihir Terrence, Roots & Shoots Bay Area basecamp coordinator. For 9-year-old Giselle Bryant, the movie sparked ideas of her own.<\/p>\n

“Me being a hopper I think it would be really fun because I saw how they made a lot of stuff,” Bryant said.<\/p>\n

During lunch, the students were introduced to someone else who has inspired generations of young conservationists: Jane Goodall.<\/p>\n

“Jane Goodall taught us that every person can take some kind of action to do something right,” said Ginger Trumpbour, a third-grade teacher at St. Thomas More Catholic School.<\/p>\n

MORE: Legendary primatologist Jane Goodall helped pioneer several programs at Oakland Zoo<\/a><\/p>\n

The Roots & Shoots youth action program with the Jane Goodall Institute joined the students for the cleanup and shared resources to help young people carry environmental projects forward. “We’re able to provide you with project planning materials, different resources for moving your project forward, such as like grants for project materials,” Terrence said.<\/p>\n

One of the group’s recent projects focused on monarch butterflies and came with an unexpected lesson, according to students Caden Escobar and Noah Mauricio, both 10.<\/p>\n

“We studied milkweed in, in monarchs, how they traveled, we tried planting them in our garden. We all know how that went. So they died, and it turns out we’re not supposed to, plant milkweed anywhere. Anywhere that’s, you have to be at least ten miles away from from the ocean to plant milkweed because it confuses the butterflies and sends them in the wrong direction,” they said.<\/p>\n

While the students may not live in water like the characters in “Hoppers” or fly like butterflies, they said their cleanup still made a difference.<\/p>\n

“I think being out here cleaning is very good for the animals and the environment,” said nine-year-old Sierra Fish. As the effort wrapped up, students celebrated with a cheer of “Happy Earth day!” echoing outside their school.<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a><\/p>\n

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