Following all the Earth Day rhetoric from college-trained environmentalists and high-powered politicians, the words of second-grader Zachary Welker sound even more eloquent. Zachary is a member of Susan Graham and Theresa McSweeney's class at Loma Vista Elementary in Brentwood. The students were instructed to write about how special the Earth was to them and, says McSweeney, Zachary went above and beyond with this activity.

Zachary's essay:

My friends and I like how the Earth's blue skies sparkle like sparkling rivers. We all love how the Earth's green forests rise above like fields of green grass. The Earth's wide oceans are beautiful waves that go across the ocean's water. Earth's many animals make the community very beautiful, from North to South and East to West. Everyone likes the Earth's beautiful flowers, from the smell to the look. Everybody likes the oceans, animals, forests, skies and the flowers on this earth. And this place is my home, home sweet home.