Flushing school wins award for garden program
Mission of environmental project: To ‘activate’ recycling efforts across the community
BY JENNA BAGCAL
Students at P.S. 32
in Flushing know the
importance of doing good
for the environment thanks
to the Activate Our Garden
program, an award-winning
organization started by PTA
co-president Wing Kong.
Four years ago, Kong
shared the program with the
school community based on
her own love of gardening
and the environment. She
noticed that the school’s
campus had a “decent amount
of land” for planting and an
outdoor classroom.
She chose daffodil planting
as the program’s first schoolwide
program and included
lessons on basic planting skills
and daffodil hibernation in
the winter. Kong also tied in
a lesson on the events of Sept.
11, which she felt school-aged
children should learn about.
“A lot of kids that age
don’t know about it. We all
live in New York City, so they
should know about it,” said
Kong, who added that like
the daffodils, we as people
continue to bloom and grow
every year following 9/11.
Recently, Kong invited
Assemblyman Ed Braunstein
and District 25 Superintendent
Danielle DiMango to the soft
opening of their Ocean Plastic
Awareness project, which
educated staff, students and
their families to reduce the
use of plastic and how it
impacts the oceans.
Through the Ocean
Plastic program, Kong and
the P.S. 32 community did
not purchase any plastic
bags this school year and
instead opted for reusable
or compostable alternatives.
She also encourages students
and their families to collect
hard-to-recycle items, like
juice pouches, chip bags and
markers for special recycling
programs like TerraCycle and
Crayola ColorCycle.
The Activate Our Gardens
Program also created a mural
Assemblyman Ed Braunstein, Wing Kong and Superintendent
Danielle DiMango with P.S. 32 students stand in front of “When the
mermaid cries” mural Photo via Facebook/NYCSchoolsD25
called “When the mermaid
cries” made out of repurposed,
donated and found items. Kong
said that students and staff
collected everyday items like
old remote controls, keyboards
and watch faces to create their
upcycled creation.
She added that reusing
old items is just one way for
the community to rethink
the way it interacts with the
environment.
“Reduce, reuse, recycle are
the typical ‘three Rs,’ but just
recycling isn’t the solution
anymore. We have to rethink
from a manufacturing and
a consumer point of view,”
Kong said.
The New York Department
of Sanitation (DSNY)
awarded the program three
Zero Waste School awards,
which rewards public
schools for “outstanding
programs in recycling,
sustainability, reuse,
gardening or cleanup.”
P.S. 32 received the MFTA
Reduce & Reuse Challenge
award for the most creative
reuse project, the CCNYC
Team Up to Clean Up award
for the best beautification
and clean up project and
the DSNY Commissioners
Cup, which awards the best
sustainability efforts across
all DOE schools.
“We are very proud to be
the winner of three awards
and we are proud to be a
Queens school that promotes
nature-based programs and
sustainability programs,”
Kong said.
Rozic pays tribute to local Asian-American leaders
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
As part of her annual Asian
American Pacific Islander
(AAPI) Heritage Month
celebration, Assemblywoman
Nily Rozic awarded
community leaders for their
contributions on May 31.
Rozic’s Asian American
Heritage Celebration aims
to amplify the values and
contributions of Asian
Americans to efforts in civic
engagement, community
partnerships and social
justice in Queens. This
year’s honorees include John
Park, executive director
of MinKwon Center for
Community Action; Clara
Kang, principal of P.S. 376;
Karen Lin, School Leadership
Team co-chair at Townsend
Harris High School; and Joby
Jacob, co-founder of Motor
Parkway East.
“Queens is enriched by
those who have dedicated
themselves to the tireless work
of advocacy and engagement
and I am proud to recognize
this year’s honorees for their
leadership in our community,”
said Rozic. “Asian American
and Pacific Islander Heritage
Month serves not only as
a reminder of the strength
in our diversity, but the
collective commitment to
empowering others as we
work towards leaving our
community greater than we
found it.”
In 1992, the federal
government designated
the month of May as
Asian American Pacific
Islander Heritage Month
in commemoration of the
long history and continued
contributions of the
AAPI community.
“The recognition, of
course, goes to the entire
MinKwon team, our
community members, and
our partners making a direct
impact in people’s lives. This
month also marks the 150th
anniversary of the completion
of the Transcontinental
Railroad,” said Park.
“The Chinese immigrant
laborers, who helped build
the infrastructure of this
country, were denied a path
to citizenship and their
contributions were all but
lost to history. Today, ours
and many other communities
Assemblywoman Nily Rozic awarded community leaders for their contributions for AAPI Heritage
Month. Photo courtesy of Assemblywoman Nily Rozic
continue to face similar
challenges. AAPI Heritage
Month celebrates how far we
have come, but also reminds
us there is much more work
yet to be done.”
Kang of P.S. 376 said
she is grateful to have the
opportunity as a school leader
to give back to her community
and to the New York City
public school system, which
she credited to shaping her
into the person she is today.
“My work every day is in
service of our students and
I am thankful for having
a supportive and inclusive
school community, which is in
pursuit of equity, compassion,
aspiring to lead, relationships
matter and academic
excellence,” Kang said.
A proud son of immigrants
from India, Jacob became
active in his community
to make walking, running
and biking safer for local
residents.
“I thank Assembly member
Rozic for her continuing
service to the Asian American
community and the whole of
Queens and am very happy
to be recognized by her,”
said Jacob.
34 TIMESLEDGER, JUNE 7-13, 2019 QNS.COM
/QNS.COM
