Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson first proposed the idea for Earth Day in 1970, after seeing the catastrophe of the 1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill. Realizing the importance of raising national awareness to the growing environmental concerns, he built an 85 member team to promote events across the United States in conjunction with a “national teach-in on the environment” agenda. Earth Day 1970 was a national success, and led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. Today, Earth Day is celebrated by more than a billion people world-wide, making it the largest secular observance on the planet.
On Thursday and Friday of last week, all the students of the Hoboken Public School District contributed to these global efforts. From Brandt to Hoboken Junior Senior High School, each school took on multiple projects aimed at both raising awareness for and helping to combat some of the dire environmental issues of our time.
Pearson
Earth Day initiatives at Brandt and Calabro were led by district art teacher, Ms. Gionna Forte. Ms. Forte collected, cleaned, and reused over 500 milk cartons to act as mini-flower pots. With the help of volunteers from Pearson, students learned the process of seed planting, the importance of sunlight and water to nurturing plants, and the benefits of recycling. Ms. Rose Caruso at Wallace, and Mr. Metcalf at Connors, along with some help from Pearson, built with students their very own school gardens, and began the cultivation process.
Urban Farms Engineering Club
Earlier this spring, the District was thrilled to announce the formation of the Urban Farms Engineering Club, led by HJSHS Teacher Ms. Julianna Addi. Ms. Addi was awarded a $25,000 grant by Cognizant for the production and implementation of the school’s unprecedented hydroponics/ aquaponics system. On Earth Day, students could be found constructing various parts of the systems and readying the room for implementation.
Storm Drain Mural Contest
The Storm Drain Mural Project has been ongoing throughout the month of April. Students from all the city schools were tasked with creating a mural to help raise awareness for waterway pollution. The Hoboken Public School District was pleased to announce they had not only won the contest, but had two winning murals! Mayor Dawn Zimmer paid a visit to both HJSHS and Wallace, where the winning murals can be found on the corners of 8th and Grand, and 11th and Clinton, respectively. The winning artists received special recognition from the City, plaques, and pizza parties for their class!
Mr. Chris Della Fave, coordinator for the Hoboken Public School District Green Team said, “The public schools and all of the students throughout Hoboken are now part of a collaborative effort to make our community a more vibrant and healthy place. Thanks to our sponsor, the Hoboken Public Education Foundation, our students had the opportunity to be part of something larger than their school.”