Five students in Islip High School’s Keep Islip Clean club – Katherine Cottral, Katerina Mennecke, Jaci Narducci, Steven Plotke, and Anika Tahsin – were inducted into the Town of Islip’s KIC Junior Commissioner program at Town Hall West on May 22. In this program, teachers from high schools throughout the Town of Islip select students in their schools to serve as environmental ambassadors for their districts. Each month, the students meet town officials to plan local clean-ups and recycling programs they then share with their high school.

On the following day, the KIC Junior Commissioners led their club to Seatuck Environmental Center for a Pond Day field trip. At Seatuck, KIC club members volunteered to remove an invasive swamp iris species from the pond at the environmental center. These invasive plants grow in large floating islands of flowers that have to be chopped up into pieces before removal from the water. Students also planted native milkweed in a garden to attract monarch butterflies to the area. Students ended the field trip with a nature walk through the Seatuck marsh trail.

Date Added: 6/9/2023