During July, four students from Jessica DiPardo’s Locust Valley High School classes spent time planting Japanese Purple Irises at Soundside Beach in Bayville. The summer project came out of a collaboration between Village of Bayville Mayor Steve Minicozzi, Locust Valley Central School District Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Janine Sampino and the schools’ garden club coordinators Tina Hament and Patrick Silvestri.
Hament and Silvestri met with the mayor in May to see how their club could help in the community. The project was suggested by Mayor Minicozzi and district officials supported the project, which saw students Tyler Banks, Maneet Bedi, Christian DiPaola and Mikayla Pacini transport perennials and plant them in front of the beach playground. Bayville’s Deputy Superintendent of Public Works, Giuseppe Sicuranza, met the group at the beach and helped with the plantings.
Perennial sharing is encouraged by Hament and Silvestri as a way for folks to support their community. District students can contact Ms. DiPardo or Ms. Hament to participate in future plantings.