Knox Middle School students recently welcomed three special guests – Johnstown Mayor Amy Praught, City Engineer Chris Vose, and Parks Supervisor Eric Houser – for a collaborative discussion to launch a new initiative called “Knox Day of Giving,” encouraging Johnstown middle school students and Knox staff to find meaningful ways to give back to their community.
Knox homeroom captains met with municipal representatives alongside Knox Principal Nicole Panton, Dean of Students Tracy Ringer, Greater Johnstown School District Superintendent Alicia Koster, and Knox Farm-to-School Agriquest Coordinators Jay Holland and Tammy Ferrari, marking the start of a collaborative and meaningful partnership between Knox Middle School and the City of Johnstown.
“When students are given purposeful, hands-on opportunities to take ownership of their community, they develop a deeper sense of pride and connection to the place they call their own,” Knox Principal Nicole Panton said. “Through this ongoing partnership, Knox Giving aims to strengthen civic pride, foster environmental stewardship, and help build a healthier, more vibrant Johnstown one student and one project at a time.”
“This partnership reflects the very best of what local government and education can accomplish together,” Mayor Praught said. “By working alongside Knox students and educators, the City is not only investing in our parks and public spaces, but also in the next generation of civic leaders who care deeply about Johnstown and its future.”
Students brainstormed ideas for their first student-led civic project, which will focus on beautification efforts in key areas throughout the city, including Recreation Park at Briggs Street and Main Street, the Rail Trail, Sir William Johnson’s Park, and properties across the Greater Johnstown School District.
Much of the discussion centered around the city’s newly refurbished Recreation Park (formerly Briggs Field), which will serve as the host site for the city’s upcoming Winter Carnival which will take place on March 7. Mayor Praught encouraged students to propose ideas to help the city continue to expand and beautify the park.
“It can be your park. It can be your investment in your community,” Mayor Praught told the students.
Students made suggestions that included adding bird feeders, improving lighting, recruiting volunteers for trash pick-up days, trimming overgrown vegetation, building a community garden and adding more trash and recycling cans.
“When we invite students to the table and truly listen to their ideas, we build stronger outcomes for our city,” Mayor Praught said. “The City of Johnstown is proud to partner with Knox Middle School to empower young people to take an active role in shaping and caring for the community they call home.”
“I was incredibly proud of how our students rose to the occasion during the meeting, offering thoughtful, and impactful feedback to the Mayor,” said Dean of Students Tracy Ringer. “This initiative represents an exciting opportunity for our students to work hand in hand with our city toward shared goals – improving air and water quality, reducing energy consumption and soil erosion, enhancing biodiversity, and advancing environmental sustainability and community beautification. I’m excited to see how this work grows and evolves in the months ahead.”
Taking the civics lesson a step further, students will approach the inaugural “Knox Day of Giving” initiative from multiple academic perspectives. As part of the effort, they will donate and plant trees throughout the community, to replace those that must be removed due to declining health and related safety concerns. Prior to planting, students will study various vegetation options to determine which species are best suited to the local climate and soil conditions and which would provide the greatest benefit to surrounding areas and natural habitats.
This research will be coordinated through the district’s Farm-to-School AgriQuest program, now in its second year of implementation. The goal of AgriQuest is not only to teach students about local agriculture, agribusinesses, and where their food comes from, but also to help them connect classroom learning to real-world applications across different academic disciplines.
Johnstown teacher Jay Holland is one of two AgriQuest coordinators for Knox Middle School. He explained to the students that a nursery in Saratoga has already committed to providing seedlings for the project.
“How cool would it be in 25 years from now, to walk around Johnstown and see trees that you planted as seedings,” Holland asked the students.
“With the upcoming implementation of the “Portrait of a Graduate” requirements, greater emphasis is being placed on classroom opportunities that offer hands-on learning, real-world experiences, and career exploration,” Superintendent Koster said. “This project provides students with all of those opportunities and more. Most importantly, it allows students to play an active role in beautifying our community – a place where we not only live and work, but a place that we call home.”
