On a cold blustery morning on the Grand Concourse, a group of Hostos Community College students pulled on some work gloves and hauled dozens of bags of soil and fertilizer and carts full of flowering plants out to the sidewalk along the College’s A building to undertake a spring beautification project. Led by the Student Government Association (SGA), the 14 volunteers set about cleaning out the planters along the base of the building, mixing fresh soil with manure, and planting flowers and shrubs to herald the arrival of spring and the promise of sunnier days ahead.
“We call this the Hostos Beautification Project. Spring is rebirth and that’s what we’re trying to bring to Hostos. We’re trying to bring life again to Hostos and bring color,” said SGA President Dainma Martínez. “This is our community and at the end of the day our colors and our life is here, so why not make it as bright as we are?”
SGA President Dainma Martinez inspects the Creeping Myrtle.
The project was the brainchild of SGA Vice President of Student Affairs Kobe Jacobs, who brought it to the attention of Hostos President Daisy Cocco De Filippis. “I was in a President’s meeting and I didn’t want to be voiceless so I raised a concern that I’ve always had about the school which is the way the area looks. I felt that it should match the vibrant community that we see inside of Hostos, explained Jacobs. “And also showing students how to care for the places where we live and where we stay and we learn. So that’s the basis for this project , and I really want to make it a beautiful area.”
Kobe Jacobs wants the College to look as good as it deserves.
So, having garnered the sponsorship of the Office of the President and the Student Leadership Academy, the SGA rallied their members for the project, and were assisted by students of Professor Flor Henderson’s Biology class who earned extra credit for the activity.
Students removing debris and preparing the soil.
The half dozen planters built into the A building’s exterior wall had been empty for a while, so they first needed to be cleaned out and filled with a fresh soil and fertilizer mixture before the flowering plants could be transplanted into them. The volunteer crew, bundled up against the cold, worked diligently to situate the first set of plants, leaving room for the additional flowers.
The students will resume the beautification as soon as more plants arrive, driven by their school spirit. “We can’t be the best school in the Bronx and not have a good image,” said nursing student and SGA Senator Dorian Johnson. “So, our project is to plant some flowers, and help make the place presentable. It is Spring so we are expecting the flowers to bloom nice and warm.”