The 7
th graders of Sulzberger Middle School began their project by collaborating with the other five Green City Youth (GCY ) schools. The schools began by exploring their community and interacting with community experts. This year, the participants met with Hayward Ford, head of Aspen Farms, once at Aspen farms and twice back at their schools. Hayward led the participants in two different activities: potting bare root tree seedlings, and potting herb seeds in pots. This entire experience is what GCY calls a “hands-on horticultural Experience.”
When the time came to choose their Earth Force project, the students of Krystal Martin’s 7
th grade class chose Streetscapes. With the help of the tools provided by GCY, the students planted “sidewalk plants” which they then gave to the Home and School Organization who donated them to the community. Ashley and Fatima both agreed that the community members, “liked the bright colors that filled the community.”
When asked how the class project impacted their community, one student, Nakia Bush, stated, “I think my [project] impacted the community because greening made our community beautiful and it could help prevent floods. Another way we impacted the community was by making the air fresher and clean by planting more green plants.”
The second task the students tackled was creating a video which covered the following issues: the importance of trees, streetscapes, herb gardening and food gardening. The students truly enjoyed themselves during this project and learned how to work along side their peers, improving the environment one step at a time.
As Mariah stated in her essay, “All of the greening will slowly change the way people look at our community.”