On Monday morning, Naya arrives at school with her observation notebook and photos of the clearing. Tom is already waiting for her in the yard, very excited.

"Are you ready?" he asks.

"Ready! Let's talk to Mrs. Leroux!"

At recess, they rush towards their teacher.

"Ma'am! Can we talk to you? It's important!"

Madame Leroux listens to them attentively. They recount the discovery of the clearing, the beautiful purple flower, the litter everywhere, and above all their weekend investigation.

"Look," said Naya, pointing to the notebook. "Twenty-three people in two days. Eight left litter. And six were looking for a trash can."

"This is truly excellent work!" said Ms. Leroux, impressed. "You've conducted a real scientific investigation!"

"We'd like to write to the town hall to ask for bins," explains Tom. "But if there are more of us, it will carry more weight."

"Could we talk about this with the class?" Naya asked timidly.

Madame Leroux's face lights up.

"Excellent idea! We're even going to make it our big project for the term!"

After recess, Naya and Tom present their adventure to the whole class. Tom shows the photos on the board. Naya explains their discoveries.

"We need your help," Naya concluded.

Hands are going up everywhere.

"I want to help!" shouts Léa.

"Me too!" adds Malik.

"We could create a brigade!" suggests Lucas. "A Green Brigade!"

All the students shout "Yes!"

Ms. Leroux writes four teams on the board:
- Cleaning Team
- Observation Team
- Communications Team
- Creative Team

"The Cleanup team will clean different areas of the forest," she explains. "The Observation team will monitor and take notes. The Communications team will write to the town hall and create posters. And the Creation team will make signs and bins from recycled materials."

Each student chooses a team. Malik and Sarah will clean. Théo and Emma will write the letter. Léa and Tom will create signs.

"Each pair of students will be responsible for a specific area of the forest," said Sarah. "That way, we'll cover more ground!"

"We need to be polite but persuasive with the town hall," said Emma. "We'll give them figures: the amount of waste, its weight..."

"We could make signs with talking animals!" suggests Léa. "And make temporary bins out of old wooden crates!"

Ms. Leroux announces that they will dedicate two hours a week to the project, and that they will all go and clean the forest next Saturday.

The students applaud.

On her way home, Naya was walking on air. What had started as a simple walk had become something enormous.

"We'll get there," she murmured, looking towards the forest. "Together, we'll get there."

That evening, before falling asleep, Naya thought about all her classmates. On her own, she had cleaned up a small clearing. Together with Tom, they had made a sign. But now, with the whole class, they could really make a difference.

Together, they are the Green Brigade. And together, they will protect their forest.

On Monday morning, Naya arrives at school with a knot of excitement in her stomach. She has her notebook under her arm, the one in which she and Tom recorded all their observations from the weekend. She has also printed out some photos of the clearing: before the cleanup, after the cleanup, and unfortunately, after more litter had been dumped.

Tom is already waiting for him in the playground, hopping from one foot to the other.

"Are you ready?" he asks with a big smile.

"Ready! Shall we talk to Mrs. Leroux about it during recess?"

" Perfect ! "

The morning passes slowly. Naya is having trouble concentrating on the math. She keeps thinking about the clearing, the purple flowers, the project they want to propose.

Finally, the recess bell rings. Naya and Tom rush towards Madame Leroux, their teacher, who is supervising the playground.

"Ma'am! Ma'am!" Naya calls. "Can we talk to you? It's important!"

Madame Leroux, a woman with grey hair and a kind smile, turns towards them with curiosity.

"Of course, children. What is it about?"

Tom and Naya begin to tell their story. They talk about the clearing they discovered by chance, the beautiful purple flower, the rubbish everywhere, the cleanup, the sign, the new rubbish, and finally their weekend investigation.

Madame Leroux listens to them attentively, without interrupting. Her eyes shine with interest as they speak.

"Look," Naya said, showing him the observation notebook. "We noted everything we saw. Twenty-three people in two days. Eight left litter. And six of them were looking for a trash can but couldn't find one."

"This is truly excellent work," said Ms. Leroux, impressed. "You've conducted a real scientific investigation!"

"We'd like to write to the town hall to ask them to install trash cans in the forest," explains Tom. "But we think that if there are more of us, our request will carry more weight."

"So we wanted to know if..." Naya began, suddenly a little shy. "Well, if we could maybe talk about it with the class?"

Madame Leroux thought for a moment, then a big smile lit up her face.

"That's an excellent idea! And even better than that: we could make it a real class project!"

"Really?" exclaimed Naya and Tom at the same time.

"Of course! Your project touches on several subjects: science with the study of nature and pollution, French with the writing of the letter to the town hall, mathematics with your statistics, civic education with the concept of civic responsibility... It's perfect!"

Naya's eyes sparkle with joy.

"So, can we present it to the class?"

"Not just to present it. We're going to make it our big project for the quarter! Come on, let's announce it right now!"

After recess, Mrs. Leroux asks the whole class to sit down in silence.

"Children, Naya and Tom have something important to tell you. Listen to them carefully."

Naya felt her heart pounding. Speaking in front of the whole class was daunting! But when she looked at Tom beside her, she felt braver.

Together, they recount their adventure. Tom shows the photos on the board. Naya explains what they discovered during their investigation.

"We need your help," Naya concluded. "The more of us there are, the more we'll...""There's a good chance the town hall will listen to us."

For a moment, there is silence in the classroom. Then hands begin to rise, one by one, then all together.

"I want to help!" cries Léa, a girl with long braids.

"Me too!" adds Malik from the back of the class.

"We could create a team!" suggests Sarah. "A nature conservation team!"

"A brigade!" Lucas exclaimed enthusiastically. "A Green Brigade!"

"The Green Brigade!" several students repeat in chorus.

Madame Leroux smiled, clearly delighted to see her students so motivated.

"Very well! So here's what I propose: we're going to officially create the Green Brigade for our class. Is everyone in agreement?"

All the students raise their hands, shouting "Yes!"

"Perfect! Now let's get organized. Naya and Tom, you will be the project managers since it's your initiative. But we need several teams to successfully complete this mission."

Madame Leroux begins to write on the board:

**Green Brigade – Teams:**
- Cleaning Team
- Observation Team
- Communications Team
- Creative Team

“The Cleanup Team will clean different areas of the forest,” she explains. “The Observation Team will monitor the cleaned areas and note what happens, just like Naya and Tom did. The Communications Team will write the letter to the town hall and create posters. And the Creative Team will make signs and maybe even temporary bins out of recycled materials.”

The students are overexcited. Everyone wants to choose their team.

"I want to be on the Cleaning team!" shouts Malik.

"Me on the Creation team! I love tinkering!" said Léa.

"I'm good at French, I want to write the letter!" Theo suggests.

Ms. Leroux raises her hand to restore calm.

"Calm down, calm down! You'll all be able to participate. We'll divide up fairly."

During the following hour, the class organizes itself. Each student chooses a main team, but Ms. Leroux explains that everyone can also help the other teams if needed.

The cleanup team consists of eight students, including Malik and Sarah. They decide to divide up different sections of the forest. Each pair of students will be responsible for a specific area.

"That way, we're not all cleaning in the same place," explains Sarah. "We cover more ground!"

The Observation team, made up of six students, will organize surveillance rounds. They will note down everything they observe in notebooks, just as Naya and Tom did.

The Communications team, with Théo, Emma and three other students, is already starting to think about the letter for the town hall.

"We need to be polite but convincing," said Emma. "We have to show them we're serious."

"We could give them some figures!" suggests Théo. "The number of items collected, the total weight, the number of people looking for bins..."

And the Creation team, with Léa and five other students, is already getting out the felt-tip pens and cardboard to imagine creative panels.

"We could make signs with talking forest animals!" suggests Léa. "Like a squirrel saying, 'I love my clean forest!'"

Tom, who is part of this team, adds:

"And we could also make temporary bins out of old crates.""Wood! Until the town hall installs real ones!"

At the end of the day, the whole class is buzzing with excitement. It's no longer just Naya and Tom's project. It's become everyone's project.

Ms. Leroux announces that they will dedicate two hours per week to the Green Brigade project, plus the personal time that each student wishes to devote to it.

“And next Saturday,” she adds, “we will organize a large forest cleanup operation. I have already spoken with the headmaster, and he agrees. We will all go together, with parent volunteers to accompany us.”

The students applaud.

Returning home that evening, Naya felt like she was walking on a cloud. What had begun as a simple walk in the forest had become something enormous.

She thinks back to the magnificent purple flower, alone in its polluted clearing. Now, that flower has a whole class of students to protect it.

"We'll get there," she murmured, gazing out the window towards the distant forest. "Together, we'll get there."

Her mother, passing by in the corridor, notices her dreamy smile.

"You look happy, darling."

"I am, Mom. We're going to do something important. Something big."

"I don't doubt it for a second," replied his mother, kissing him on the forehead.

That night, before falling asleep, Naya thought about all her classmates. Malik, who wanted to clean up the forest. Emma, who was going to write a beautiful letter. Léa, who was going to create magnificent signs. Tom, her best friend, always by her side.

On her own, she had cleared a small clearing. Together with Tom, they had made a sign and conducted an investigation. But now, with the whole class united behind this project, they can really make a difference.

Together, they are the Green Brigade. And together, they will protect their forest.