Sneaky leprechauns visited Mt. Pleasant Elementary School kindergartners in Smithtown on St. Patrick’s Day. Students found a trail of gold dust, a bit of a mess and shiny gold coins along with a special message. Unfortunately, students found their leprechaun traps empty as they were unable to catch one. Better luck next year.
Town of Smithtown Supervisor Edward Wehrheim said he was amazed at what’s growing at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School.
“I’m coming back when there are cucumbers to pick,” he told the students.
The Town of Smithtown, Reworld Waste and the Smithtown Central School District teamed up to create the new garden. Kathy Smerechniak, the STEM specialist at Mt. Pleasant, has been working with the student council to nurture plants from seeds under grow lights.
Students have been actively involved in the maintenance of plants and have spent time learning about the life cycle of plants in their science curriculum.
On May 22, Wehrheim, Town Public Information Officer Nicole Garguilo, and Reworld staff visited the garden to see the students’ thriving plants in the garden beds. The vegetables grown in this garden will be donated to the local food pantry.
The garden beds, made from recycled material, were donated by Reworld along with seeds, compost, solar-powered water timers, and an irrigation system. The Town of Smithtown will continue to support Smithtown schools to advocate for additional opportunities at other elementary schools to develop similar projects.
Science experiment tests structures
During a recent Project Lead the Way lesson, students in Mrs. Amato’s class at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School in the Smithtown Central School District learned about structure and function in science. Each student designed and built his/her own strong and sturdy house for the characters in the “Three Little Pigs” story. They all watched to see if their homes held up when the Big Bad Wolf tried to blow them down.
Photos courtesy of Smithtown Central School District
Second graders in Ms. Gabriel’s and Mrs. Chester’s classes at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School in the Smithtown Central School District created jack-o’-lanterns and worked on a writing element on how to carve a pumpkin. They used transition words and adjectives to improve their writing.
Smithtown Central School District
