PORTSMOUTH — Students and faculty at The Pennfield School came to together Friday for Earth Day in a celebration of “Our Earth, Our Island.” 

Sustainability educator Cindy Hallowell collaborated with faculty to create a full day of festivities.

The day started with a morning assembly featuring musical performances by the choral department, a beekeeping presentation by the third grade and the second annual “Recycled Runway” fashion show presented by the fifth-grade class.

Throughout the day, an art installation by students was on display in the atrium, representing the local flora, fauna and subterranean activity through the season on Aquidneck Island.

The highlight of the celebration was a visit by the Aquidneck Island Intertribal Indian Council, led by 3 Horses, chief chairman, who joined the school community to conduct a tribal blessing of the land on which the school is located.

“Our hope is to bring awareness to the fact that our natural world needs to be protected, and it needs to happen soon,” said Ms. Hallowell. “Our Earth Day celebration at Pennfield is a study of what surrounds us here on Aquidneck Island. It brings to light for the students that what we have, here on this jewel of an island, is just as important to a healthy planet as any other ecosystem on this Earth.”