The EHT Catawba Project - Protecting and Preserving the Great Egg

Digging In

On Saturday November 19^th, 2011, the Catawba Club members from the Alder Avenue Middle School, and volunteers of the community, gathered at the E.H.T. Historical Society. There, they helped to prepare the site to serve as an outdoor community teaching classroom. These students and other residents of our township are working hard to get this place ready to educate others about our environment. When they met there on Saturday, they were all determined to do as much as possible to make the E.H.T. Historical Society a beautiful garden, where everyone could gain knowledge about their surroundings.

            All the students of Mr. Jones’s classroom had been preparing for this event for days. They made a complete layout of the final product of the garden, including all of the dimensions, positions of the structures, and more! The children also researched native plants and which ones would best suit their outdoor classroom. They made word documents, found pictures, and presented the information about their species of trees and shrubs. Early in the week, Mr. Jones approved all of the plants selected, and sent out an order for them. They were ready to dig in!

            After all of the hard work and preparation, the students were very eager to get going and make a difference in their community. All of the people who came out there, worked on planting the different native trees and shrubs. The order included a wide variety of different plants. The whole idea was to find beautiful trees and shrubs, while still being environmentally friendly. These native plants were a healthy alternative to plants that needed fertilizer and pesticides. It was only fit to put them into the garden.

            When the participants finally arrived, they got busy! Everyone was doing their share of the work. The kids were planting the trees and shrubs, while the adults worked with different tools and equipment. The participants also removed extra brush, which made their garden look even more beautiful. By the end of the day, everyone was tired and covered in dirt. But no one minded, everyone was just happy that they could contribute to this wonderful project.

            When their time was up, the members stared in awe of what they had accomplished. Everyone was proud of the work they had done to help serve their community. The students all received a Catawba shirt as a reward for their contribution, which made the experience even more memorable. This was an opportunity to help the environment, spend time with your friends, and have fun while doing it. However, there is still a lot that needs to be done. The members of the community and all of the students will continue to work hard until their garden is an ideal environment to educate others.

            By: Rachel Roesch

            Mr. Jones’s 6^thgrade student 

Catwaba Project Makes Waves in Water and Press

Dozens of red buoys floated in the still water in Ship Channel just south of the Somers Point side of the Route 52 Causeway. The small balls seemed like floating plastic garbage in the mirror-flat seas to one girl, prompting her to ask those around her what they were.

None of the seventh-graders from Fernwood Middle School in Egg Harbor Township sitting in the back of the 49-foot pontoon boat for an environmental science field trip had an answer...
 

Story in Newspaper

MLK Day 2012

Egg Harbor Township MLK Day of Service
On Monday, January 16, 2012, students from the Alder Avenue Middle School, and members from the community, participated in Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. For most citizens, this would be a day-off, but not for these hardworking, dedicated, and devoted community members. Instead of lying around, they decided to meet up at the E.H.T. Historical Society. There, they worked on the community garden that they’re building.   This garden will serve as an area where students can teach their community members all about their environment and watershed. This is called service learning, when students apply knowledge that they learned in the classroom, to doing service in their community. By educating the citizens of Egg Harbor Township about native plants, storm water runoff, and animal habitats, everyone becomes more aware of their surroundings. This is so imperative to learn, which is exactly why the members of the Catawba Project and some other generous people, have dedicated their time to working out at the garden on this day.  This garden was only created because of the generosity of State Farm. Mr. Jones, a teacher at Alder Avenue Middle School, received a grant of $62,729.50! Right away, Mr. Jones knew that it was to be used towards the garden, to benefit the entire community. He definitely put the money to good use!  At the community teaching garden, this day stood out from others for many reasons. One being that ten yards of mulch was delivered, to be spread around the native trees in the garden. In about two and a half-hours or so, this mountain of mulch was tackled to the ground! Everyone looked back to admire the newly decorated trees and dirt. This really showed how much progress has been made from the beginning, when the garden was no more then an empty field of grass.  In addition, three rain barrels were made. Rain barrels are barrels that collect rainwater, which can be used later on to water plants, and grass. By doing this, everyone can help conserve water. This is very important, since every time it rains, litter is carried away into our storm drains. Eventually, this ends up in our rivers and watershed. This creates major problems, if not taken care of. 
Another fun event that was held on MLK Day of Service at the community garden, was the Environmental Relay Race. This course included four different stations that went along with the environmental theme. First, two teams were chosen, with four players per team. Once the race began, the teams ran with their wheelbarrows to a huge pile of dirt. Once they reached it, two team members were allowed to dig five shovel-fulls of dirt and deposit it into their wheelbarrow. As soon as they were approved, they moved onto the next station. Here, they were to build an osprey nest. Finally, one member of the team was supposed to sit in the nest and get the ‘okay’ from the judge. At the next station, the team’s instructions were to pick up all of the litter on the ground and drop them into the recycling bins. Lastly, the teams had to spread the dirt onto the ground and step up onto the gazebo to be declared the winner. This was so popular that the relay race was run several times so everyone could participate. It truly was a fantastic day.
On MLK Day of Service, everyone there had a spectacular time. Along with having a blast, this day was very productive. Everyone had contributed to spreading around the ten yards of mulch, clearing brush, and more. The community garden has made so much progress, it’s unbelievable! It is finally becoming clear that this project will be a complete and huge success.    By: Rachel Roesch   

Disney Planet Challenge

Out of nearly 400 classes across the nation that participated in the Disney Planet Challenge, The Catawba Project was chosen as the third place winner!

The Disney Planet Challenge is a free, project-based environmental competition for grades 3-8. It encourages students to make a difference in their schools, communities, and homes. It also teaches kids about their earth while empowering them to make a positive impact on their communities and planet. In addition, the Disney Planet Challenge rewards those who make a difference in their environment.

For this project, we had to make a digital portfolio to showcase what we did for the Disney Planet Challenge. Without the State Farm Youth Advisory Board Grant we received this year, we would not have been able to build our community garden, which was the main focus for our portfolio. We split into different groups, making different slides for our portfolio, which focused on different things we have done or what we are still doing. It allowed everyone to contribute to the presentation and put their strengths to use. We explained what our project was, how it made an impact on the watershed, and in the process that we went through to reach our goal. When we were finished with the portfolio, we hit the submit button and waited anxiously for the results.

The other years The Catawba Project has done the Disney Planet Challenge, we did very well. Every year, the current class passes down the project to the future 6th grade class. Last year, we were the state winner for New Jersey! Their win motivated our class of 2011-2012 to try to win the same as last year’s class or better. When we were awarded 3rd place in the nation we were ecstatic. Our class worked so hard, and it feels great to be recognized for that work.

By: Patty Miraglilo

A National Green Ribbon School!

The Alder Avenue Middle School in Egg Harbor Township,  home of the Catawba Project, is one of 78 U.S. Green Ribbon Schools announced Monday by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Link to Story in the Local Press