P.S. 256/The Benjamin Banneker Magnet School for Architecture & Engineering celebrated Earth Day, on Tuesday, with the dedication of a blooming Magnolia Tree located in the school’s Kosciusko Street entrance garden area. Teachers, parents and students named the tree after former principal Sharyn Hemphill, who passed two years ago.

Students and teachers were joined at the informal celebration by community leader and environmental activist Wayne Devonish, Board Chair of the nearby Magnolia Street Earth Center of Bedford-Stuyvesant on Lafayette Ave. Standing behind the children, in this photo, with Mr. Devonish, center, are, from left, educator Ms. E. Marbury, Educational Assistant; Ms. Minerva Natasha Brister, Parent Group Treasurer; Ms. T. Henry, Parent Coordinator; Ms. S. Martin, PTA President, and the Classroom Teacher, Ms. D. Moguel. photo Althea Smith

Tree Story: N. Acosta, a college student who attended Benjamin Banneker Magnet School and now works there part-time, remembers Ms. Hemphill, and in a story for Our Time Press, will reveal how this paper, Herbert Von King Park, Magnolia Center, Yonnette Fleming and other local enviro orgs enriched her life.
(Photo credit: Althea Smith)