Post Tagged with: "Atlantic County Utilities Authority"

ACS Students Compete in ACUA 2022 Recycled Art Contest, 12th Grader Lauren Kent Receives Honorable Mention Award

ACS high school students recently competed in the 8th annual Recycled Art Contest sponsored by the Atlantic County Utilities Authority and 12th grader Lauren Kent was awarded Honorable Mention for her entry. She received recognition at a ceremony on November 19 at the ACUA America Recycles Day event and her unique and creative artwork was also on display there.

Kent and seven other students created artwork for the contest during Mrs. Mirakian’s Art Workshop class, a semester-long class that meets four days a week. The art pieces were entered in the 14- to 18-year-old category in the contest and were completed on October 19. The artwork was then taken to the Atlantic County Library in Egg Harbor Township, where they were on display until October 31.

In addition to Lauren, the other students who competed in the contest from ACS were: Eddie Ireland, Alli Lushina, Evan Pearson, Alli Schlundt, Noelle Thompson, Eden Wilson, and Eve Wilson.

Lauren used a variety of recyclable materials to create her artwork, including wire, yarn, cork, cardboard, hot glue, and buttons. Artwork created by other students in the class used other recyclable materials such as aluminum cans, bottle caps, egg cartons, newspaper, plastic bottles, puzzle pieces, and straws.

 

ACS Students Competing in ACUA Recycled Art Contest

ACS high school students are competing in the 8th annual Recycled Art Contest sponsored by the Atlantic County Utilities Authority with unique artwork they created in October out of recyclable materials. The artwork will be on display at the ACUA’s America Recycles Day Event on November 19 and contest winners will be announced at the event.

Eight students created the artwork in Mrs. Mirakian’s Art Workshop class, a semester-long class that meets four days a week. The art pieces, which were entered in the 14- to 18-year-old category in the contest, were completed on October 19 and then taken to the Atlantic County Library in Egg Harbor Township, where they were on display through October 31.

The students who are competing in the contest are: Eddie Ireland, Lauren Kent, Alli Lushina, Evan Pearson, Alli Schlundt, Noelle Thompson, Eden Wilson, and Eve Wilson.

Some of the recyclable materials the students chose to create their artwork included aluminum cans, bottle caps, buttons, cardboard, cork, egg cartons, newspaper, plastic bottles, puzzle pieces, straws, wire, and yarn.

 

 

Eight New Raised Beds Added to School Garden Using Grant Funds, Students in Garden Club Prep Beds, Begin Planting

The ACS School Garden has expanded this spring with the addition of eight new raised beds, bringing the total to 16 beds, and students in the after-school Garden Club have been busy prepping the beds and planting vegetables.

The Texas-based Whole Kids Foundation provided a $3,000 grant to ACS last fall to expand its garden program, which included adding more planting beds to the school garden.  Garden Club Coordinator Eric Tardif worked with ACS facilities staff, who built the eight new beds in late March. On April 7, a donation of 10 cubic yards of eco-soil arrived from the Atlantic County Utilities Authority, enough to fill all 16 beds in the garden to kick-start the planting season.

“We are very grateful to the ACUA and the Whole Kids Foundation for showing their support for our school garden program,” said Tardif, who is joined by 1st grade teacher Ashley Brossman and 4th grade teacher Rebecca Jackson in overseeing the after-school Garden Club. Twenty-four students in the 1st-5th grades are participating in the Garden Club, which began meeting on Tuesdays starting on April 12 and will meet through June 7.

The students have weeded the eight existing garden beds and filled all the beds with the new soil.  The students have planted a wide variety of vegetables including beets, cucumbers (pickling and lemon), lettuce, summer squash, tomatoes (beefsteak, green zebra, and cherry), and zucchini. The students have also planted cucumbers in 20 large pots lined up along the fence that surrounds the school garden and greenhouse. “We are looking forward to seeing the vines of these cucumbers attach and climb up to cover the fence,” Tardif said.

Tardif said activity in the school garden will continue through the summer with participation by students in the summer Cougar Camp program.  “Our Cougar Camp students will be tending to the garden and picking the vegetables, which will be ready to harvest in 45 to 60 days,” Tardif said. ” We’re also excited about the opportunity to sell our vegetables at the new Community Farmers Market that ACS will be holding on its campus this summer.” Proceeds from the sale of the produce will go to support the ACS garden and greenhouse program.

 

 

Garden Club Springs Into Action, Blessed by Donations of Eco-Soil and Seeds

Spring is in the air and students in the after-school Garden Club have been busy in the school garden and greenhouse, prepping the raised beds, planting herbs and vegetables, and learning how to compost. A donation of eco-soil from the Atlantic County Utilities Authority and seeds from ACE Hardware in Egg Harbor Township helped kick-start the planting season.

“We are very grateful to the ACUA and ACE Hardware for showing their support for our school garden and greenhouse program,” said 4th grade teacher Eric Tardif, who is co-advisor of the Garden Club along with 4th grade teacher Rebecca Jackson.  The 20 students in the Garden Club began meeting on April 15 and will meet every Thursday through June 3.

The ACUA donated and delivered 10 cubic yards of eco-soil on April 21 and the students got to work adding the new soil into the eight raised beds the next day. In the greenhouse, the students have planted a number of herbs in baskets and starter trays, including basil, lavender, oregano, peppermint, and rosemary.

On April 29, the students put together a new compost bin and learned about composting. Mrs. Jackson, who has a compost bin for her own home garden, talked about what food scraps and other materials contribute to the decomposition process in a compost bin. As a snack, the students ate apples and put the cores into the compost bin.

Tardif said activity in the school garden will continue through the summer with participation by students in the summer Cougar Camp program.