Largo, Florida---If you one of those people who say it’s not easy being green, don’t tell that to Phyllis Hand.
This Pinellas Park High School science teacher was green when it was considered kind of granola.
Hand says, “In my generation it has been the thing being conservation minded and it's been something that we were raised as being baby boomers...”
Joyce is a 9th grader who says Mrs. Hand has made her think twice about the earth and the environment.
Mrs. Hand is loves passing her green attitude on to her young students.
In her 20 years at Pinellas Park High, she has played a big role in getting her students to recycle.
Each week they collect tons of paper, aluminum and plastics.
Students like 11th grader Keron says he even recycles at home now. It’s something he likely would not have done if Mrs. Hand didn’t teach him how items like plastics can be turned into carpet and even clothes.
Teaching has always been Mrs. Hand’s first love but it wasn’t her first job.
She spent twenty years as medical technologist in a lab. At the time she was a single mom and taking care of her ailing mother.
She says one day god planted a seed in her heart to teach.
Hand says as soon as she followed that lead everything fell into place. She even met husband after becoming a teacher.
Student’s like 9th grader Krystal say it’s Mrs. Hand’s enthusiasm that keeps them engaged.
Another lesson Mrs. Hand teaches comes from her head.
She prefers short hair but lets her strands grow long so she can donate it to Locks of Love for people who have lost their hair due to cancer. She started donating when one of her friends was diagnosed with cancer.
Mrs. Hand says she hopes her students remember her by always being kind to the earth.
Her students say for now she is memorable because she is so kind to them.