Ms. Gherardi’s fourth grade class at Charles Campagne Elementary in Bethpage gathered outside the school on Thursday, May 3 to celebrate their fellow student, Valentina Waqar, who was a winner in this year’s poster contest, “Our town, Our environment,” and planted a tree with the help of the Town of Oyster Bay and Supervisor Joseph S. Saladino.
Supervisor Saladino presented Valentina with a certificate for her poster and explained why it is so important for us all to work toward saving the environment.
“We are focused on protecting the environment in our town,” said Supervisor Saladino, who explained to the students that we have what is called a symbiotic relationship with trees and that this moment is important for students to remember so that they can lead the way in the future and be the future teachers for our environment.
Valentina said that she was inspired to create her poster because of the trees she has seen dying. She made the poster to show the two sides of what the world will look like if we do not recycle and care for our environment and what it will look like if we do.
“I wanted to make this poster to help Oyster Bay, and I was really surprised that I won,” said Waqar.
“It feels really good ,” she said of her poster having won and being recognized by the Town of Oyster Bay and her class.
Valentina shoveled the first amount of dirt for the tree, which Saladino explained is an Apple serviceberry tree that is native to Long Island.
