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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JUNE 9, 2019
Where culture
is king
June 19
The Lonely Island
1027 FLATBUSH AVENUE
BROOKLYN NY 11226
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Garden party
Bath Beach middle school celebrates
opening of new hydroponics lab
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Bath Beach middle schoolers
can now grow fruits and
vegetables at IS 281’s new hydroponics
lab.
The school held a ribbon
cutting ceremony on May
29 to mark the offi cial opening
of the lab, where students
will learn the science
of farming without soil, according
to the school’s science
teacher.
“The students really like
it. The majority of these
kids have never done anything
like this,” said Antony
Solino. “They take it seriously.
It’s a big responsibility
because this is a living
thing.”
The school purchased the
lab using a $250,000 grant
from Borough President
Eric Adam’s offi ce, which
also funded a fl ight simulator,
a three dimensional
printer, and other technology
projects.
Solino said the lab, which
hosts more than 100 plants,
provided an opportunity to
teach kids about the wonders
of hydroponics, which
uses rockwool, mineral nutrients,
and water solvent to
Science Teacher Antony Solino (top) poses in the new hydroponics
lab. City Sanitation Department Chief Andrew Pugliese plants
vegetables in the outdoor organic garden.
Photos By Steve Solomonson
grow plant-life.
“You go away on Friday,
and you come back on Monday,
and the plants have
grown several inches,” he
said. “It’s like elves cast a
spell on it.”
Solino hopes the school
can expand the lab in future
years to include more students,
grow more plants, and
put the harvest to better use.
“It’s great to be able to
use the vegetables in our
own cafeteria for things like
salad, but ultimately a great
goal would be to use it to donate
to a food pantry.”
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