FARMINGTON – Red Wrigglers are squirming in a 30-gallon tub in Alex Ernst’s third-grade class at W.G. Mallett School.

As they munch away on used coffee grounds, leftover apples and snacks, Ernst wants to teach his students the value of composting and recycling early.

“We’re careful not to put in too much or it gets a little smelly, but we shred newspaper and the students water it,” he said of the project started with 1,000 worms earlier this year. “They’re really into it.”

Students from the University of Maine at Farmington have shared the success of a food composting program at UMF with the school. Both institutions have also partnered with the Sandy River Recycling Association, which makes daily food pickups from the school for composting at the recycling facility.

Robert Ripley and April Noel, volunteers from the university, came to help set up the worm bins in his classroom and start a schoolwide composting program, Ernst said. They taught students how to sort their lunch refuse for composting by the Sandy River facility.

Caroline Gallant, Shawn Menard and Sarah O’Blenes, UMF student members of the Sustainable Campus Coalition, helped instruct kindergarten and first-grade students how to sort their lunch waste to prepare for composting.

Started in November, some of the third-grade students now volunteer to help kindergarten and first-graders scrape their plates and sort food items, he said.

“Seeing the organic recycling process firsthand can spark a young student’s lifelong interest in science and finding new, more sustainable ways to live,” said Andrea Freed, UMF assistant professor of science education, recycling committee member.

Gallant has also added to the program by finding an online service that will pay the school 2 cents for every foil drink pouch it recycles, according to a university statement.

Food waste is gathered daily during the school week, according to Ron Slater, manager of the Sandy River Recycling Association. A total of 288 pounds of food waste was picked up from the school in November and that increased to more than 560 pounds in December, he said.

The school has recycled wastepaper for several years with the joint recycling committee continuing to look for ways to minimize the school’s waste.

At the school this spring, a garden is being planned that will use compost materials and to teach students about nutrition and the benefits of eating local foods.