The greenhouse contains a large variety of plants.
“The greenhouse club is a community that has really grown on me; it taught me a lot about the environment and meeting new people.” said Yadira Siguencia, vice president of the greenhouse club.
The Greenhouse Club in MCSM has grown a lot in the past two years. In 2012, the Greenhouse Club partnered up with the Philadelphia Urban Creators to help train students. Urban Creators taught the students how to reuse plant-material waste into organic compost, harvest greens, and how to properly maintain their greenhouse. On Wednesdays, at 3:15 members of Greenhouse meet up at the science wing where they go up to the roof to check up on the plants. The greenhouse is divided into three sections. The first section from the back is used by the New York Restoration Project to store their plants. The second and third sections have plants arranged in order of species and the amount of sunlight exposure. The greenhouse consists of many plants including cacti, rose bushes and money plants. They hope to grow vegetables too! Some tasks they are required to do are pulling out weeds, rearranging pots/plants, watering plants and managing their very own compost bins!
Greenhouse activities are not just limited to the roof of MCSM. On Thursday, October 10th, the Greenhouse Club went to Jefferson Park to plant Cherry Blossoms with NYC Department of Parks (pictures can be found on their bulletin board on the first floor). The Greenhouse club also plan events and trips outside of school. Their upcoming trip to Philadelphia has been scheduled sometime in November where they will meet up with Urban Creators to learn more about healthy eating.
Why would students of MCSM “play in the dirt,” so to speak? Tamima Tabussum, club president, has a clever answer, “It’s in our nature!” The fundamentals of learning how to harvest, cultivate and just knowing how to do so is important to the evolution of our civilization. Often in history classes, we look past the regurgitated information but these essential skills were learned for survival and should still be learned today.
Join Greenhouse Club on Wednesdays, after school at 3:15 in front of the science department to learn more!
By Minul Asgar