Way to Go!: Jerahmeel Mendoza, Valley Stream
An article about bees by Jerahmeel Mendoza, left, bees was published inTeen Ink magazine. She is pictured with her school's English and Reading Department Head Lauren Cote. Credit: Valley Stream Central High School
A Valley Stream student’s article on the endangerment of bees created some national buzz.
The story by Jerahmeel Mendoza, a sophomore at Valley Stream Central High School, was published this fall in Teen Ink, a national teen magazine. Titled “World Buzz,” the article described what could happen if bees continue on a path to extinction, including famine, reliance on more fossil fuels and a global depression.
Mendoza wrote the roughly 700-word piece as a class assignment for English teacher Adam Bjelland, who said 25 students submitted pieces to the magazine in the last school year.
“It was so cool. I didn’t expect it, actually,” Mendoza, 15, said of being published in the September issue. Of the importance of bees, she said: “We should all be taking steps to make sure their population stays stable. If bees become extinct, it could lead to human extinction.”
To help save the bee population, Mendoza suggests creating a backyard garden without using pesticides and herbicides, giving weeds a chance to live, and leaving a small basin of water for bees to replenish themselves after a long day of pollinating and making honey.
Mendoza is a member of her school’s Science Honor Society and the girls volleyball and badminton teams. She also volunteered last summer at the Henry Waldinger Memorial Library in Valley Stream.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
