Herricks High School students Aieshah Ashfer, Ananya Chaubal, Emily Eng, Shivani Kapoor, Vishnitha Karunakar, Sitaara Kesavan, Krishay Matneja, Samaira Pai and Zunairah Sikder were recently presented with a $2,500 grant as 2021-2022 winners of the Long Island Regional Planning Council’s Long Island Water Quality Challenge.
The team of nine developed their ‘Say NO to Nitro!’ project which will result in the planting of indigenous wildflowers in three locations at the high school. These wildflowers have natural denitrifying qualities that help reduce nitrogen entering the ground and surface waters from school grounds.
In preparation for their project proposal, the Herricks students conducted extensive scientific literature reviews and met with school administrators to learn more about how they could make changes on school grounds to reduce nitrogen. The self-driven group dedicated substantial time and effort towards their proposal that will have a positive and lasting impact within the Herricks school community.
