Esteban Calderon and his Fair Haven School classmates had three objectives at Criscuolo Park in Fair Haven on Tuesday morning.
“We’re painting trash cans and we’re planting trees and we’re collecting the trash,” Calderon said.
Teacher David Weinreb said the students in his bi-lingual sixth grade class have arrived in New haven from Spanish speaking countries in the past three years.
“It feels like an important responsibility for me that my students become experts quickly on how the city runs,” Weinreb said.
In November, the class began visiting New Haven landmarks like City Hall, libraries and parks. The students also wrote letters to city officials.
“How they wanted their city to become a better place for them and their families,” Weinreb said.
One of the letters went to Rebecca Bombero, the director of the city’s department of parks, recreation and trees.
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“It was really adorable,” she said. “His messages were right on too with the mayor’s clean cities message about keeping the park clean.”
Bombero said she let the class know they could apply for a grant geared toward students from the National Parks Trust.
“They had about a week to turn around a grant proposal,” Weinreb said.
The students were successful in securing $642 for the park clean-up.
“It’s good because we are trying to help our environment and trying to the help community,” Calderon said.
