University of Puerto Rico in Ponce

English Department
ENGL4021-L03

DATE: May 15, 2020

TO: Pier LeCompte Zambrana
FROM: Aris Class Rivera, Wilfred Fonseca Ferrer, Maria Mendez Casillas,
Dormarie Rivera Rodriguez, and Mario Tejero Martinez
SUBJECT: Progress Report on the Student Coalition Pro-Agriculture and the
Atabey Garden

INTRODUCTORY SUMMARY

The Technical Writing course (ENGL4021), presided by professor Pier LeCompte

Zambrana, has allowed the students from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR)-Ponce

to develop experience in how to write technical documents. One of the requirements

to complete this course during the 2019-2020 spring semester, the students should

have contributed and participated in the Student Coalition Pro-Agriculture (CEPA)

and their related activities. One of these activities included the Atabey Garden

project. The purpose of this project is to teach the students about the importance of

agriculture and to enhance their commitment to volunteer activities. In our group of

the ENGL4021 course, most members contributed in different ways in the Atabey

garden; some managed to donate to CEPA, while others, like Mario Tejero,

managed to assist in different CEPA-related activities. Unfortunately, participating in

the garden on the three assigned days was difficult for most members due to prior

commitments. During these times, the garden, like the rest of the world, has

paralyzed their activities due to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the main responsibility of the garden is still to have different options

available upon facing the food security problem in the country.

Origin of the Atabey Garden

The Atabey Garden started in 2014 as an initiative of Professor Jose R. Villalon.

Gradually, the project took shape and managed to become an association, today is
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English Department
ENGL4021-L03

known as the Student Coalition Pro-Agriculture (CEPA). The “Atabey Agricultural

Fair” arises in 2014-2015 when the president carried in his plans for the association

with the idea of raising awareness in the community in a different, fun, and

interactive way. Her goal was to be able to reach the community and thus awaken an

interest in people to plant and create their own home gardens. The Atabey Garden

was and still is a very original initiative especially since no other similar initiative was

developed in the UPR-Ponce campus. This initiative responds to a global movement

of sustainable resources focusing on perhaps one of the most important factors,

sustainable foods. Right now, our country is going through an exceedingly difficult

situation, and very few households have started their own home gardens. This

answers the problem of the low value that is given to our farmers and our lands.

Although there are many initiatives similar to what CEPA carries out, most of these

are led by an older generation. Therefore, this project will try to impact a large part of

the student community.

Founders of the Atabey Garden in 2014

1. Nicole Matos Rodriguez - President

2. Eduardo M. Llegus - Vicepresident

3. Nerymar Munera - Secretary

4. Félix Martínez - Secretary

5. Victor Irogoyen Rosado - Treasurer

6. Josian Luciano Velázquez - Historian

7. Jesus F Cappas - Field Chief

8. Bárbara Camacho Martínez

9. Pedro Arbona
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English Department
ENGL4021-L03

CEPA directive members in 2019-2020

1. Juan G Negrón Ferrer - President

2. Adayra A. Rodríguez Vázquez - Vice President

3. Carola B. Figueroa Palmer - Secretary

4. Carlos J. León Rodríguez - Treasurer

5. Amlyn M. Sánchez Centeno - Public Relationships

6. Verónica I. Arbona Walsh - Vocal

7. Prof. Pier Le Compte Zambrana - Counselor

CEPA Mission

The mission of this association is to raise awareness in society about the urgency to

make a difference and increase local food production in order to reach self-

sufficiency.

CEPA Vision

The vision of this association is to set an example through the action of humans and

social principles for others with the success of the Atabey Garden. They have the

desire to collaborate with a variety of similar projects with the intent to find

appropriate solutions for the enhancement of agricultural practices in Puerto Rico.

CEPA Objectives

1. Encourage the use of seeds and organic products on our garden.

2. Assistance in training students of agricultural sectors for the development of

their agriculture careers.

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English Department
ENGL4021-L03

3. Provide collaborative work opportunities between educational and

governmental agencies.

4. Promote awareness in food production and sustainability.

CEPA Services

CEPA promote educational excursions to different agricultural farms that offer

workshops about farming and gardening techniques to their members. By assisting

in garden maintenance every week, CEPA members provide agricultural benefits to

the university. Another type of benefits that this student-based association brings is

interactive activities, conferences, and discussion panels. These activities help

CEPA directive members to motivate their colleagues to develop their interest on

agriculture and become prime examples to other people who lack this knowledge

and motivate them to be informed.

COMPLETED TASKS

Throughout the first three months in the 2019-2020 spring semester, the students of

the ENGL4021 participated in some CEPA-related activities. The following tasks

demonstrate what kind of activities the members participated in.

Atabey Garden Maintenance

The maintenance of the Atabey Garden was held at different time points, such as

Tuesdays and Thursdays around 12 pm, Friday afternoon from 1:30 to 4:30 pm and

some Saturdays from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm. Even though neither of the group

members had the opportunity to provide their assistance in the Atabey Garden

before the social distancing, the members gathered some information on the
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English Department
ENGL4021-L03

updated work enhanced by the CEPA members. These works included: planting

seeds in different seedbeds, installation of an irrigation system to water the plants

more efficiently, cleaning the garden, among many others. Such work helped

maintain an organized garden with diverse crops before the social distancing. It also

encouraged students to experience the process of planting crops and harvest them.

Attending Conferences and Activities

Due to its mission to raise awareness of the importance to grow healthy organic

crops in Puerto Rico, CEPA is willing to share their agricultural expertise by offering

different conferences, panel discussions, and many other activities to the UPR-

Ponce community. For this reason, some members attended many conferences that

focused on the 5th agriculture fair. The dates of the conferences were held on

February 28th, 2020 and March 6th, 2020. The presenters of these conferences

were the president of CEPA, Juan Negron Ferrer, and the vice president Adayra A.

Rodriguez Vazquez. Through these conferences, the students were able to

comprehend more about networking since this coalition has grown a good reputation

among others and we can meet many people throughout this coalition, be

responsible of their roles inside the garden during the days of the activity and

recruiting staff and volunteers so they can have the opportunity to show off their

products.

Donations

To this date, the garden is currently suffering many damages due to the lack of

constant maintenance. For this reason, the students from the ENGL4021 course

made monetary donations to contribute to acquiring new resources to restore the

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garden after the lockdown. These monetary donations will provide the CEPA

members and student volunteers new equipment for the maintenance of the garden,

for their safety and seed crops that will help promote a new and improved garden

with more biodiversity than ever.

Work Timelines

Due to not having the opportunity to fully contribute to the Atabey Garden, the

members completed the following hours:

● Aris Class Rivera: completed 2 hours on May 9, 2020 by making a monetary

donation to the CEPA vice-president Adayra Rodriguez.

● Wilfred Fonseca Ferrer: completed 2 hours on May 15, 2020 by making a

monetary donation to the CEPA vice-president, Adayra Rodriguez.

● Maria Mendez Casillas: completed 2 hours on May 6, 2020 by making a

monetary donation to the CEPA vice-president, Adayra Rodriguez.

● Dormarie Rivera Rodriguez: completed 2 hours on May 6, 2020 by making a

monetary donation to the CEPA vice-president, Adayra Rodriguez.

● Mario Tejero Martinez: completed 4 hours on May 5, 2020 by making a

monetary donation to the CEPA vice-president, Adayra Rodriguez and by

participating in the 5th agricultural fair meetings.

UNCOMPLETED TASKS

With the uncertainties of when the social distancing will end, the Atabey Garden will

need more help than ever to be fully restored in its natural glory. CEPA still wants to

recruit more students that are eager to contribute and promote the importance of this

organization. By using these social circumstances to their advantage, the continuous

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English Department
ENGL4021-L03

project of the Atabey Garden will continue to thrive by expanding their space and

introducing more crops to the garden and complete the tasks that are still on hold.

Limitations

Although the members contributed to the garden approximately 12 hours through

monetary donations and attending conferences, they understand how important this

ongoing agricultural project is for our university and for Puerto Rico. Thus, these

students realized that the Atabey garden still needs more volunteers that are willing

to take their time to complete maintaining the crops and other pending tasks.

However, these maintenance hours, among other activities, specifically the 5 th

Atabey Agricultural Fair, were abruptly stopped due to the challenges presented

during the semester.

Work Plans

Based on their slight agricultural experience, the ENGL4021 students support

CEPA’s goal to recruit more students that are eager to contribute and promote the

importance of this organization. Thus, the Atabey garden is a key project to promote

such awareness in the UPR-Ponce community. By recruiting many volunteers from

different academic departments to help out in the garden, CEPA will become more

popularized to an extent in which it will deliver a positive message about our harmful

views regarding the environment. On another hand, the recruits will help the CEPA

members to finish many tasks, such as, setting the timer in the previously installed

irrigation system, cleaning and organizing the garden, planting, and maintaining the

newly incorporated crops, among many others. Furthermore, these volunteer work
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English Department
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will allow more eco-friendly and healthier resources to be produced and could

possibly alter the university’s food consumption.

CONCLUSION

At the end of the semester, the students were not able to contribute to completing

the tasks established by CEPA due to the pandemic. Even in the middle of this crisis,

CEPA remains active after all. As a result, the only way the members completed

their tasks was by donating money to CEPA. On another hand, CEPA provided the

students’ information via WhatsApp for the students to learn more about them, their

visions, and the products they planted. Learning about CEPA made a great impact to

the members of the ENGL4021 course since this coalition was created by UPR-

Ponce students that shared a similar goal to produce sustainable foods. With their

efforts, they demonstrated that each student has the capacity to grow their own

natural, healthy, and toxic-free crops.

 University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03

APPENDIX

Meeting Minutes:

University of Puerto Rico at Ponce

English Department
ENGL 4021 L03 MINUTES
Meeting Date: February 5th, 2020

Call to Order:

A regular meeting of the Course ENGL 4021 L03 was held in room MTC-1 of the Academic
Building at the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce on February 5th, 2020. The meeting
convened at 1:38 pm, Professor LeCompte presiding and Aris M. Class, secretary. All
students attended except Dormarie Rivera.

Approval of Minutes:

No minutes have been approved because this is the first group meeting.

Matters Discussed:

1. The professor discussed the responsibilities of each member of the group regarding
the Progress Report.

2. Aris collected the cell number and institutional email from each member of the group
to be able to communicate efficiently.

3. All members brought their schedule of classes and work to determine the available
time they have during the week to do other meetings.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 2:44 pm.

Submitted by:

_______________________ ____February 7, 2020____

Aris M. Class Rivera Date of Approval
Secretary
 University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03

University of Puerto Rico at Ponce

English Department
ENGL 4021 L03 MINUTES
Meeting Date: February 7th, 2020

Call to order:

A meeting of the members in group 2 from the Course ENGL 4021 L03 was held in the
library Adelina Coppin Alvarado at the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce on February 7th,
2020. The meeting convened at 2:50 pm, Aris M Class presiding and María Del Mar Méndez,
secretary.

Approval of minutes:

Minutes of the February 5th, 2020 meeting were approved by members of the course after
corrections were made.

Matter Discussed:

1. The members of group 2 discussed about how will they be in contact with each other
to complete the progress report regarding the Atabey Garden, Student Coalition Pro-
Agriculture (CEPA) and their related activities.

2. Maria Del Mar Mendez created the WhatsApp group with the following members
from group 2:
a. Aris M Class
b. Wilfred Fonseca
c. Mario Tejero
d. María Del Mar Méndez

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 3:00 pm.

Submitted by:

_______________________ April 25, 2020_______

Maria del Mar Mendez Casillas Date of Approval
Secretary
 University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03
University of Puerto Rico at Ponce
English Department
ENGL 4021 L03 MINUTES
Meeting Date: April 25th, 2020

Call to Order:

A virtual meeting of the members in group 2 from the course ENGL 4021 L03 was held on
April 25th, 2020. The meeting convened at 6:15 pm, Dormarie Rivera Rodriguez was the
secretary. All members attended except Aris M. Class Rivera.

Approval of Minutes:
Minutes of the February 7th, 2020 meeting were approved by members of the course after
corrections were made.

Matters Discussed:
1. The members in group 2 discussed the progress report regarding the Atabey Garden,
Student Coalition Pro-Agriculture (CEPA), and their related activities.

2. The members decided to divide the different parts of the progress report for each
member.

3. Wilfred Fonseca Ferrer mentioned that he will contact Adayra Rodriguez to find more
information about the Atabey Garden and CEPA.

4. Mario Tejero Martinez mentioned that he will focus on discussing the Feria Agricola
Atabey meetings in the progress report.

5. The members agreed to make donations for the Atabey Garden and CEPA in the
following weeks.

6. The members approved to have the progress report completed by May 10, 2020.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 6:48 pm.

Submitted by:

_______________________ May 9, 2020_______

Dormarie E. Rivera Rodriguez Date of Approval
Secretary
 University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03

Service Logs:
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English Department
ENGL4021-L03
University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03
University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03
University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03
 University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03

Self-Reflections:
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English Department
ENGL4021-L03
University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03
University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03
University of Puerto Rico in Ponce
English Department
ENGL4021-L03