This Earth Day, Newark Students Pick Up, Stand Up, and Own Up
to Beautify Their Neighborhoods
Students will participate in the perhaps biggest
one day beautification project in American history
Pick up. Stand up. Own up.
NEWARK, NJ, April 16, 2007 - This is the motto of more than 40,000 Newark school students, who will be given an early dismissal from classes in efforts to plant more than 1 million flowers throughout the city starting on Earth Day, April 20, 2007 as part of Beautiful Newark’s Earth Day initiative. From Penn Station to Newark Airport to Weequahic Park, students in Newark will make this Earth Day an important start to a 3-year campaign that ushers in a new attitude toward beautifying Newark’s environment, image and appearance.
This youth-led campaign designed is to lead, educate and inspire all Newark residents and people throughout the region to change the perception and reputation of the city by taking a more active role in maintenance and appearance of the city.
Stationed at specific street assignments near their schools, participating students will plant bulbs, seeds and trees, remove litter, and perform other activities that will result in perhaps the biggest one day beautification project in America. What’s more, students will engage neighbors in the community to continue the mission of keeping their neighborhoods clean throughout the year through further activities.
Preparation for this massive initiative
Students like Gloria, Aferidian, Judith, and Marilynn -- all sophomores at Newark’s University High School -- have accepted the challenge of promoting a more beautiful Newark by developing an advertising advisory panel, which cultivates ideas on how to promote their Earth Day activities. Each week, this panel wrestles with ideas on how to engage major businesses, community leaders and lawmakers throughout the city to share in their vision and to take ownership of their neighborhoods by picking up litter, planting trees and flowers and correcting others who disparage the city.
“To me, our motto ‘Pick up, stand up, own up” means that we live in this city and we have to take care of our streets as if we were taking care of our personal belonging,” said Aferidian, a long-time resident of Newark and member of the Advertising Advisory Panel. “I just got tired of what I was seeing every day walking to school and thought it was time to do something.”
Others in the group, who have moved to Newark from other cities throughout the country, notice that attitudes are changing in Newark and want to be integral parts of the positive change. “Compared to where I used to live, Newark has far more problems,” said Gloria, who moved to Newark from Massachusetts a few years ago. “I have seen things changing from when I first moved here and feel that Newark wants to change. And that’s something I want to be a part of.”
Adults follow students’ lead
The students are not acting alone. Adult leaders across sectors have formed a partnership to put muscle and caring behind the idea. On April 20, NJ Transit employees are planting around the train stations. The seeds of the partnership were planted originally by Newark Public Schools Superintendent Marion A. Bolden, with the support of Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker and various community leaders from civic and faith-based organizations throughout the region.
Empowered with this foundation, students have inspired Newark business leaders, organizations, and institutions to join in their mission to boost the city’s image. Major companies such as Pepsi, PSEG, Verizon, jetBlue, and Wachovia, along with organizations such as the Housing Authority of the City of Newark, NJ Transit, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Rutgers-Newark, the Newark Regional Business Partnership, Newark Liberty International Airport, Boys and Girls Clubs of Newark, and Newark Now, who agreed to donate resources, goods, services and volunteers to make Beautiful Newark’s campaign a success.
For example, the New Jersey State Department of Transportation and the County of Essex will assemble teams to clean all the highways in Newark. NJ Transit will send volunteers out to clean around Penn and Broad Street Stations and plant flowers at outdoor waiting areas. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, along with Newark Airport will conduct cleanups and display potted flowers at entrances. The state’s largest newspaper, the Star-Ledger is providing ad space that students design.
City leaders take notice
“Newark is our home and we must all do our share to make it safe and keep it beautiful,” said Cory A. Booker, Mayor of the City of Newark. “A youth-led program that inspires major businesses and Newark institutions to work together for this one day is a powerful example of the changes that are happening in this city. It is exciting to see this type of cooperation and more rewarding to see that our young people are truly leading the charge.”
“Beautiful Newark’s Earth Day activities prove that valuable lessons can be learned outside of the classroom,” concluded Marion A. Bolden, state district superintendent for Newark Public Schools.
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About Beautiful Newark
Web site: www.beautifulnewark.org
For this Earth Day on April 20th 42,000 Newark students will get out of school early to fulfill a historic learning mission. Media from around the state and nation will watch as Newark’s students “own” specific street segments near their school, pick up litter, plant 1 million flowers citywide, and fulfill the mission of a more Beautiful Newark. Major Newark companies, civic associations and faith-based institutions are joining these young people beautify the streets of Newark on this historic day.
About The LEAGUE
Web site: www.leagueworldwide.org
The League is just that, a league of schools, growing fast, that believes students should develop a sense of giving, character, citizenship and volunteering and chooses to promote that through a combination of events, curriculum and community service in a structured way.
In the LEAGUE, students and schools can earn points by participating in events and service, towards recognition, awards and coverage in a range from the global LEAGUE website to local newspapers. The goal is to get local newspapers to cover “doing good” just like they do sports, and it is starting to work already.
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Contact
Matt Caruso
Edelman
matthew.caruso@edelman.com
(212) 642-7715
4/17/06 Press Release ~ Earth Day in Newark, Friday, April 20 