Community Corner

Marion Street School Goes Green

Story by Rosemary Leonetti:

At Marion Street School in Lynbrook, teachers have been finding new ways to incorporate their school’s gardening and recycling projects into the curriculum.

Students harvested pounds of fresh garlic and herbs that they had planted last year in the school’s Sympson Outdoor Environmental Classroom, commonly referred to as the SOEC. Many students took cloves home and were able to cook with their own organically grown garlic.

With the help of science teacher Kerry Stewart, all of the classes across the grade levels were able to harvest some of the many fruits, herbs and vegetables from the garden. As the colder months approached, parent volunteers helped put the SOEC to sleep for the winter.

With the arrival of spring, the SOEC is active again.

Students have begun composting in the cafeteria, and they are learning the importance of eating healthy food and how the wastes from such foods are healthy for the earth. They have already begun to plant the next harvest of potatoes and other healthy vegetables such as peas, string beans, lettuce and spinach.

The Marion Street Student Council helped introduce the Terracycle program to Marion Street School. Terracycle collects different types of typically non-recyclable materials and recycles them into everyday objects such as backpacks, garbage cans and plastic benches.

Marion Street students are collecting fruit juice pouches to send to Terracycle, which teacher Rachel Tiran and her students are helping to gather and prepare for recycling.

As an added bonus, Marion Street students earn money to help their school or a charity organization of their choice by recycling these products. Hundreds of juice pouches have already been collected and saved from landfills.

“We are looking forward to another healthy growing season and future projects that will continue to teach our students about the wonderful world we live in,” Marion Street Principal Theresa Macchia said. “We are ever thankful for Mr. Sympson, our master gardener and local community member who has guided the planting process, and teacher Anne Conway for her time and dedication to this wonderful community garden.”


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