Clearing the park

Clearing the park

Fifth graders at AmPark Neighborhood School, PS 344 have spent the school year studying invasive plant species, clearing them from Van Cortlandt Park and documenting the experience.

On Feb. 10, they showcased their work at apresentation that included slideshows, videos, cartoons and speeches.

Students started the ongoing project at the beginning of the year when, under the auspices of fifth-grade teacher Bernadette Wilson, they began studying sustainability and conservationism. The class started a related project focusing on invasive plant species, such as lady’s thumb and garlic mustard, which are among the eight most problematic plants in VCP.

The invasive species compete against native plants for resources, which reduces biodiversity. 

In November, with the help of the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, the students cleared a corner of Vannie, on Van Cortlandt Park South near Sedgwick Avenue, using shovels, gardening tools and their hands.

“We worked hard to take out invasive plants in Van Cortlandt Park and while I was doing it, I got a thorn in my finger,” C.J. Osborne said.

Fifth grader Alex Rodriguez learned a valuable lesson from the experience.
“Reuse, reduce and recycle and the world will be a better place,” he said.

The work was part of the school’s participation in Disney Planet Challenge, a competition that encourages students to take on projects that help the earth. Students finished just in time for the submission deadline, which was on Wednesday.

“We all need to make a big impact to help the environment or else the plants will be gone and the trees give us oxygen so it’s all a chain,” Fiona Kearns said.

The presentation included videos of anime-like girls doing research about invasive plant species. The girls spoke in robotic voices, one with a British accent.

There was also a cartoon about a boy named Max, who discovers a tree covered in oriental bittersweet, an invasive vine. Max goes to the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park and together they take care of the problem.

In addition to working on the presentation, the students created a website and are working on an article for the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park’s newsletter.

On Saturday, May 19, the students will run a volunteer day cleanup at the compost site in Van Cortlandt Park, at Broadway and Mosholu Avenue, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. They are hoping to get 100 people to participate.

“If all the invasive stuff kills our trees, there won’t be any trees,” Analisa Gagliardi said.

Young inventors

Kinneret Day School hosted the fifth annual Invention Convention on Feb. 9.
Students showcased their inventions and described the challenges associated with creating them.

Tomer Poole-Dayan’s “Laundry Made Easy” would move dirty laundry so the person dealing with it could keep their hands clean. Deborah Haimowitz’s battery-operated “Adjustable Spin Art Bowl” created designs when it rotated with paint inside. Jessica Gruboy’s “Top Pot,” prevents plants from being knocked over. Elinor Poole-Dayan made the “E-Z Brush” that makes removing hair from a brush a breeze. Katarina Berezovsky constructed the “Magical Tubes,” a three-in-one container for shampoo, conditioner and body wash.

“Congratulations to all of our talented inventors, who worked hard on their projects and proudly presented to an enthusiastic audience,” Assistant Principal Simone Nenner wrote in an e-mail.

Short shrift?

The Independent Budget Office conducted an analysis of the schools on the Department of Education’s 2012 closure list and found that high schools on the chopping block have more special education, impoverished, English language learners, overage and minority students than their non-closing counterparts.

While there are no schools in the Riverdale/Kingsbridge area on this year’s closure list, John F. Kennedy High School is currently being phased out, making way for two New Visions charters.

While high schools on the closure list receive more city and federal funding, they get less private money.

Lobbying it up

Students from the College of Mount Saint Vincent and Manhattan College traveled to Albany for the New York Student Aid Alliance Advocacy Day on Feb. 7.

The students discussed the value of state student aid programs, including the Tuition Assistance Program, Grad TAP, the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program, the Science and Technology Entry programs and the Liberty Partnerships Program.

Roughly 900 high school and college students, faculty and staff from more than 55 colleges and universities attended the event, which encourages those who support student aid programs to speak their mind.