Santa Claus can be a hard sell when it comes to changing his environmental footprint, but it didn't stop students at Lewiston Elementary School from asking him to put solar panels on his rooftop Thursday.

During their holiday program "Santa Goes Green," students from kindergarten through sixth grade sang about the dangers of global warming.

The snowmen have lost a pound or two, the elves are spreading Coppertone instead of Christmas cheer, it's sleeting in the desert and the ice caps are melting, the children sang to Santa. And so, one might suspect the greenhouse effect.

Julie Zimmerman, third- and fourth-grade teacher, said that the message of the play was not lost on the students.

"Before kids can appreciate what they have around them, I thought, give them a neat global perspective," Zimmerman said. "As adults, we forget that kids understand more than we think they do. I hate to see things watered down because people think kids can't understand it."

Kindergarten and first-grade students gave their impression of what "going green" means to them.

"It means you save the world," said Sebastian Moulis, 5.

Mollie Ford, 6 1/2, had a more literal understanding of the movement.

"Everybody's going green. You have to change into green clothes," Mollie said.

However, if you don't have any green clothes, you can wear red, according to 6-year-old Raiden Sweeney.

Keesha Thomas likes going green because it's her favorite color, she said.

"Going green also means wearing green hats," Keesha, 6 1/2, said.

In the true spirit of the progressive play, everything from ceiling ornaments to costumes were reused.

"Denise Johnson, a parent, recycled the outfits from Goodwill and revamped them all. And then Karla Stahler (a Lewiston aide) recycled old CDs and we put old bows and Christmas cards on the sides of them," Zimmerman said. "Dave and Kristi Hendrich, who don't even have children going to school here anymore, did all the lighting and made the stage decorations out of recycled paper."

Cutouts of rechargeable batteries, hybrid cars and LED lights were the backdrop to all the green costumes on stage. Even the green-colored program had quick facts about saving trees and consuming less electricity.

But Santa was not convinced about using ethanol instead of gas in his sleigh, so the students continued to school him.

Evergreen trees sang about the dangers of clear-cutting the forests, and Rudolph talked about her LED red nose, which uses less than 10 percent of the electricity consumed by regular bulbs. Recycle a fruitcake as a gift this year, the students sang, because everyone knows it will get passed around again.

In preparation for the play, Miriam Mathy's family discussed what it means to go green. In a velvet dress and lace collar, Miriam was one of the most animated students in the front row.

"We've been talking about it at home, and when it snowed, we all shoveled and didn't use the snow blower. We said that we were going green," said Julie Groves, mother of Miriam. "And in the fall, we rake our leaves instead of using a leaf blower."

By the end of the production, Santa emerged from the wings of the school in a green suit as opposed to his traditional scarlet one.

The students sang with Santa that, "It's our world, and this Christmas will be green."

Miriam also had some good ideas for what going green means to her, and what action others should take.

"I think it means not using as much electricity, and have a compost pile," Miriam, 7, said.

jmccoy@capitalnewspapers.com

745-3519