Divided into 10 teams of 10 students, volunteers from P.S. 237 in Flushing scoured nearby streets recently, removing garbage and debris in an effort to brighten up the neighborhood.
On Friday, May 11, kids and teachers alike volunteered pitched in during the “Carson Cares Community Clean-up” to remove trash from surrounding streets and hand out geranium plants to local residents to foster a good relationship with the school.
The kids giggled and groaned as they picked decaying food and containers from phone booths and ditches in the ground in the area from Colden Street to Kissena Boulevard.
“This [garbage] smells worse than the cafeteria,” joked seventh grader Jessica Benitez, part of teacher Dave Kerpen’s 10-person “Dominator” team.
But each did their part to remove the garbage.
“I feel that it’s our job to cleanup the neighborhood, because we are here and this is our universe,” Benitez said.
“I thought it was going to be fun, but also an experience,” said classmate Sumeet Nahar.