Gennaro gives $10,000 to Jamaica school

With $10,000 in seed money, City Councilmember James F. Gennaro helped kick off a new education program for the budding environmentalists of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary School (BVM) in downtown Jamaica last Friday, February 16.
Joined by Mike Zamm, education director for the Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) and Dorothea Breen, principal of the 160-student Catholic school located at 88-13 Parsons Boulevard, Gennaro celebrated the launch by presenting a check to the CENYC to establish its Training Student Organizers (TSO) program at BVM.
“I’m thrilled to be able to contribute to the investment that these students - the leaders of tomorrow - have in their community and the quality of its environment,” said Gennaro, chair of the City Council’s Environmental Protection Committee.
The TSO program is administered by CENYC, a privately funded citizen’s organization in the Mayor’s Office. Through it, 1300 students in ten New York City high schools and four intermediate schools have learned about environmental issues and organized over forty environmental improvement projects such as tree plantings and invasive species removal in city parkland.
At Beach Channel High School in Rockaway Park students created a wildlife habitat for migratory birds.
“The TSO program has spawned hundreds of students who have gone on to become involved in green projects in their own neighborhoods, study environmental science in college and graduate school, pursue green careers, and simply participate more in the life of their communities,” said Zamm.
All 60 of the BVM’s sixth, seventh and eighth grade students will take part in the program and learn about environmental issues such as air pollution, litter and noise pollution once a week for the semester. They will also do field work in their neighborhood and assess the environmental conditions there.
At the end of the semester, the students report their findings to the appropriate city agencies.
According to Breen, the TSO program is a perfect match for the school because students there have historically participated in neighborhood cleanup and other community projects.
“It is my hope that, by participating in this remarkable program, the students of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary will develop skills that enable them to become agents of positive change in their communities throughout their lives,” said Gennaro.