A community college sponsored by Niagara County
November 19, 2019
As part of the Liberty Partnerships Future Leaders program at SUNY Niagara, students from Lockport High School and North Park Junior High School will be focusing their community service efforts on environmental improvements this year. The high school students kicked off the yearlong project on October 21 with a community clean up. Liberty Partnerships Students identified the overall need as well as a few key areas that would benefit from their efforts. In addition to picking up litter, the project has prompted them to spread awareness about recycling and empower others to put garbage in its place.
As part of this project, students researched some alarming statistics:
- Paper products make up 22% of the liter that is currently in the world
- More than 250 million tons of trash is produced each year
- An estimated 1.4 billion pounds of litter winds up in the oceans each year
- Over 100,000 marine animals die every year from plastic entanglement and ingestion
- New York produces about 14 million tons of trash a week
- On average a New Yorker throws away about 25 pounds of trash a week
North Park Jr. High School students teamed up with Niagara Region Park Interpretive Program. The Niagara Park Program identified the need for more bat boxes throughout the region. A guest speaker attended the Liberty after school program on November 7 to introduce the students to the benefits of bats, facts surrounding the declining bat population, and what students can do to help. Many residents do not realize that increasing the bat population will reduce the mosquito population and promote plant pollination. Students will assemble bat boxes of their own to be installed at specific locations in Niagara County.
Future Leaders Liberty Partnerships Program at SUNY Niagara is sponsored by a New York State Department of Education Grant and currently serves over 300 students throughout Western New York. The program supports youth throughout Niagara County with college and career pathway planning. Liberty Partnerships assists students with life and social skills, mentoring, leadership, service learning, community service, wellness, and social/emotional development.
For more information on how your child can be a participant in the SUNY Niagara Future Leaders Liberty Partnerships Program, contact Jamie Reid jreid@niagaracc.suny.edu or 716-614-6891
