School beautification was on the agenda recently for a group of Huntington High School students in teacher Kelly Trites’ social and community awareness class.
“My social and community awareness class has been working on job skills and jobs that might be available to them upon graduation,” Ms. Trites said. “We started a short landscaping/ groundskeeper/gardener unit and with the help of the Interact club and many teachers and administrators, we became the ‘beautification committee.’
Armed with a game plan for the afternoon, the teenagers wasted little time getting down to business. The group worked hard and the results are impressive.
“The students weeded and cleaned,” Ms. Trites said. “They dug holes and planted. They mulched and have been watering when necessary.”
Ms. Trites is a Hicksville High School graduate. She went on to earn an undergraduate degree in speech and language at LIU Post and a master’s degree in special education at Hofstra University. She came to Huntington in 1999.
The Interact club and faculty advisor Linda Roth contributed to the project’s success. Faculty and staff members Maureen Yostpille, Liz Lupi and Kristen Deville also pitched in to help.
“The students will continue the year learning about other jobs that might be in their future,” Ms. Trites said. “We will explore housekeeping and restaurant jobs, including dishwashing, food prep and food service, child care workers, stock clerks and many more.”
