A New Greenhouse for Pierrepont

By Krista Vellis

If you have driven past Pierrepont School lately, you may have noticed a newly constructed greenhouse near the portables. This is the handy work of the Green Team, a co-curricular club at the school. This is Rutherford sat down with Mr. Shaun Bach, who runs the Green Team, to learn more about this after school club.

Teachers: Lauren Muszynski and Shaun Bach with Green Team Members

TIR: How long has the Green Team been around?

SB: Kaitlin Wojcik, Jacki Mann and Jaclyn Levine started The Green Team three years ago. This year, with the help of Lauren Muszynski and Samantha Singer, I have been fortunate enough to continue the Green Team’s mission.

TIR: What do you hope your students take away from the Green Team?

SB: We really hope our students are able to learn how important the environment is and that it is our responsibility to take care of it. Our club activities are designed to foster an understanding of those responsibilities, such as cleaning up the Earth, recycling, and planting more plants, which produce oxygen.

TIR: Who can participate in this club? How often do you meet?

SB: Students in grades 4-6 are able to participate in the Green Team. This year, we have 15 dedicated students who come to the Green Team meetings on a consistent basis. We meet at least once a month to plan and discuss future activities. We also share the ways we have been helping our environment. These meetings can last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the activity.

TIR: What type of activities do members of the Green Team participate in?

SB: This year, our main focus has been taking care of our environment and planting and maintaining plant life. In the fall, we watered the plants in the front of the school twice a week. This activity taught the students the importance of taking care of plants and also showed them how too much water and too little water can be harmful to plants such as flowers. We also recently constructed a greenhouse that we will be planting flowers in. We are going to be planting seeds and caring for them on a weekly basis. Students will be able to take home their plants at the end of the school year and continue caring for them over the summer. We also conducted a clean-up of the lower field on school grounds earlier in the school year. There were a lot of leaves that fell, so we went out there one day and cleaned them up. It made the recess area that much more enjoyable for the students.

The Green Team's Greenhouse

TIR: What is the future plan for the greenhouse?

SB: In future years, we are going to plant vegetables and herbs, like basil. Students will be able to take home the plants that they grew. We also like taking student suggestions, so the options of what we plant are really up to the students.

TIR: Why do you feel a club like the Green Team is important?

SB: A club like the Green Team is important because we show students how to care for our environment. Whether it is cleaning up a local park or planting new flowers, caring for the environment can be accomplished in multiple ways. We are hoping to spark a change in the students so they begin to do things on their own and they can spread awareness about the importance of caring for our environment.