Colonia High School students, businesses spruce up school grounds

by Sergio Bichao on Oct 7th | Email

Students and Aquila employees plant shrubs outside Colonia High School on Wednesday. Staff photo: Sergio Bichao

WOODBRIDGE, NJ -- Colonia High School is looking greener after a team of students and local businesses got together this week to uproot weeds and plant shrubbery outside the building.

More than $1,800 worth of day labor was donated by Aquila Landscaping Contractors of Avenel, whose workers helped 22 students from the Ecology and Interact clubs Wednesday morning lay top soil, hay and plant about 80 shrubs.

Both of Greg Aquila’s children have graduated from the high school, and it isn’t his alma mater. He went to Woodbridge High.

Still, when the Parent Teacher Organization reached out to him, he answered the call.

“If we can be of any help, we’ll help,” he said.

“It’s been a real need for several years,” parent Kellie Cuzzola said about the appearance of the school’s exterior. “This has always been on the back burner because of limited funds.”

Colonia High School students Amanda Salvato, 15, left, and Gurvinder Kaur, 17, transplant a shrub outside their school Wednesday, Oct. 6, as part of a beautification project sponsored by local businesses.

Colonia is one of three high schools and 24 schools in the district, which in the spring slashed $12 million from its budget.

The township this year took over the school custodial staff after the district considered privatizing the workers to save money.

Mayor John E. McCormac said the employees, now a division of the township’s public works, will be doing a lot more to spruce up school grounds, including replacing tennis courts and improving baseball fields.

“I met with all the principals and asked them to prioritize projects both inside and outside the schools. We are going to commit to making the schools look better,” he said this week.

In the meantime, businesses like Aquila -- and A & A Tree Service and Rising Up Garden Center, both in Avenel, which supplied mulch and mums -- are lending a hand, as are the students.

“I think it’s important for students to take ownership,” the high school’s new principal, Robert Zega, said.

Ecology Club adviser Chantal Greffer said the students also tend to a vegetable garden in the courtyard, growing lettuce, radishes and broccoli for soup kitchens.

“I’m big on the environment,” student Tim Valente, 17, said about why he signed up for the project. “I love fishing and I care about keeping it clean so it will be there for my children.”

It took getting her gloves dirty for Taylor Salotti, 14, of Avenel, to notice how much garbage and cigarette butts were scattered around the school.

“It looks better than before,” her friend Ashley Tomasino, 14, said.

Greffer, who also teaches biology, said more students now are taking interest in the environment than when she started the club 18 years ago.

“It’s almost a part of everyday conversation and that makes me excited because it shows that it’s becoming a permanent lifestyle change rather than a fad,” she said.