School No. 5 Goes Green Day

What better day to “go green” than on the greenest day of the month? That’s what students at School No. 5 did as a way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – They went green in the garden.

After learning how to care for the Earth through previous lessons in Professor W’s Earth Science Circus, the students were all prepped up for the day’s “greening” activities.

Kindergarten and first-grade students jumpstarted the event by putting up birdhouses, which they painted in class earlier.

The second through fourth graders decorated the gardens with their hand-painted mosaic turtles, also prepared days before.

Then the fifth graders formed a human chain from one end of the campus grounds to the other, picking up trash along the way.

Sixth-grade students completed the activities, with an assist from special education students when they did the actual planting.

“The children are all excited because they’ve been working at it for a while. They’ve been building birdhouses and turtle mosaics, learning about recycling, taking care of the environment and all that,” said PTA President Carmen Vellon. “And today we want them to put it into practice by actually using what they learned to beautify the school surroundings.”

Students weren’t the only ones involvled as the school principal, and PTA members also took part in activities.

“It was originally just supposed to be the sixth grades coming out and plant, as their gift to the school when they leave,” said principal Gabe Nazziola,“but we got the whole school involved.”

Nazziola himself was hands-on in the whole project, queuing the classes when it was their turn outside and sharing scientific facts as they worked in the garden.

Special thanks were given to the school’s head custodian, John Faronea, who procured all the materials and plants, helped the students in the garden, and even painted a sign for the event.

“He really helped turn this into something special for the children,” said Vellon.

Faronea was no garden novice since he used to be a landscaper. So he was able to educate the children as well, while they worked with the perennials.

“We’re going to put some butterfly bushes down the road to make a habitat for them,” Faronea  said. “So when the weather’s nice outside, the children could come out and observe (what they’ve done). This will be an educational thing for them as well.”

School No. 5’s Go Green Day is just the start of their eco-friendly efforts.

“Our special education classes will be doing something on Earth Day as well,” added Vellon. “It’s going to be like an extension of this, but just for them. They’re going to be working on the garden patch by the school sign.”

After working in the garden, the students were rewarded with T-shirts from the PTA and enjoyed some snacks in the warm sun.