8 THE QUEENS COURIER • JANUARY 24, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Queens students protest fed shutdown at wildlife refuge
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
About 120 ninth-grade students from
Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning
School in Forest Hills, rallied at the shuttered
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitors
Center on Jan. 17 in an eff ort to raise
awareness on how the ongoing federal government
shutdown is impacting their education,
school and communities as a whole.
Students presented their solutions to
environmental issues and advocated for
the opening of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife
Refuge Visitors Center — located at 175-
10 Cross Bay Blvd. — where they’re unable
to complete their fi eldwork investigations,
due to the government shutdown.
Th e students acknowledged the hardworking
rangers at the refuge — and other
national parks — who aren’t being paid,
saying, “Th ey’ve done so much for the bay
such as cleaning it up, and making sure
people have a good time.”
Together they chanted, “Don’t shut
down my education…whose parks…our
parks!” as they concluded with their fi nal
message: “Speak your mind, reach out,
make your voice heard, aft er all power
comes with unity.”
Each year, ninth-grade students in
Living Environment class work with the
Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, which is part
of the National Parks System, to study
ecological systems and human impact in
a real-world setting. At the conclusion of
every semester, students present their fi ndings
at the Visitors Center as part of their
fi nal presentation of learning.
“Th e Jamaica Wildlife Refuge has given
us opportunities, new learning, and a
chance to express our carefully chosen
ideas,” said Hannah Clarke. “Jamaica Bay
and its rangers provided our schools with
text and other material that we were able
to focus our learning on. We must act out
to protect our beautiful environment, our
people, and our students. Th ough the government
is shut down, our voices will not
be shut down as well.”
Dubbed “A School for a Sustainable
City,” MELS — located at 91-30
Metropolitan Ave. — serves approximately
840 students in grades six through 12.
Th e school off ers its students a rigorous
college preparatory program, with particular
emphasis on science, technology and
sustainability.
Students touched on the issues of plastic
pollution, combined sewage overfl ow and
the importance of recycling.
Sarah Perez, 14, was one of 30 students
A student from the Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School in Forest Hills speaks about the impact of the government shutdown at the Jamaica
Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center on Jan. 17.
selected to present her project, a combined
section garbage can to make recycling
easier for people at home, to prevent
plastic from building up on sidewalks and
in the waterways.
“We got our research here to create our
project,” said Perez. “I was really excited
about it, but when I got the news of the
government shutdown it made me really
sad. I really do hope the Refuge opens
again because it’s a really nice park, but
with the way the government is going, I’m
not sure it’ll open anytime soon.”
Naadia Mohamed, 14, said she hopes
their rally made a change today and the
center reopens.
Photo by Carlotta Mohamed/THE COURIER
“We came here to present our solution
to environmental problems and we’ve
been developing it for three months now,
it’s a shame that we didn’t get to present
our solution today,” said Mohamed.
“I hope that because of our rally, it will
open and will have an eff ect on their
decision.”
Sanders, union & Legion help unpaid federal workers
BY JEFF YAPALATER
Airport Voice
Special to The Courier
State Senator James Sanders Jr.
joined American Legion Post 483
Commander William McDonald, AGFE
Union organizer Gabriel Pedreira, and
AGFE National Representative Tim
McLaughlin in supporting American
Legion Post 483 food pantry for federal
employees impacted by the government
shutdown.
Sanders asked for an end to the shutdown
and promised to contact banks
and ask what they plan to do to provide
extensions to those who may miss payments
due to unpaid time on the job.
AGFE McLaughlin suggested mediation
through the FCMS if necessary
to get 800,000 workers back to normal
employment. Photo by Jeff Yapalater
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