Students presented research projects, attended demonstrations and enjoyed activities at theĀ event.
By Krista Cerminaro
Eighteen Williamstown Middle School students paid their tribute to Earth Day a month early by participating in the 10th annual New Jersey Clean Communities Environmental Exchange in Ocean City on March 22 andĀ 23.
The WMS Braves Club studentsāāāmade up of sixth through eighth gradersāāāsplit up by grade to come up with three research projects to present at the event. Club advisor Miranda Basilone said theyāve been meeting after school and preparing sinceĀ fall.
āThey will find an environmental problem, and do a research project on it, and come up with a solution,ā Basilone said. āWe start in October with our research projects, and then we present them in March when we go on the exchange.ā
Basilone said the three topics for this yearās presentations were beaches being closed due to high bacteria levels, soil and air pollution and the PennEast natural gas pipeline.
In addition to presenting to the other schools that attended, the exchange gave students a chance to watch a demonstration on how to make rain barrels for their gardens, learn about the Marine Mammal Stranding Centerāāāwhich handles animals that get stranded on the beachāāāobserve a presentation by the Cape May County recycling director on the importance of recycling and the different processes, and see a demo on how equipment is used to fix the beaches after erosion from the recent norāeaster storms, according to Basilone.
By day, the students gained knowledge about their environment, and by night, they were rewarded for their hard work with Zumba and a magician.
This year, WMS was one of nine schools that braved the snowy weather to attend the environmental exchange. According to Basilone, Williamstown students have been attending since the program began 10 yearsĀ ago.
āI think that middle school is the perfect age, because theyāre starting to care more about the environmentāāāand if you can hook them now, it can be a lifelong interest of theirs,ā BasiloneĀ said.
Basilone, who has been teaching science for 22 years and was active with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation when she taught in Maryland, said aside from programs such as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4H and the recycling club at WMS, there arenāt a significant number of outlets for kids who are interested in environmental issues, so this provides them with the opportunity to focus on the environment.
āItās all paid for by Jackie Wallace of the Monroe Township Public Works,ā Basilone said. āShe goes with us, since sheās the townshipās Clean Community representative.ā
Gloucester County Clean Communities representative Jeff Hamilton also attended the event, along with former Braves Club advisor Jill Baturin and three WMSĀ alumni.
āI wanted the children to be able to learn more about the environment, keeping their community clean and what effect it has on our community as a whole, and also our connecting communities. The biggest thing was for them to interact with children from other communitiesāāādiverse communities,ā Wallace, the Monroe Township Clean Communities Coordinator, said. āOur communities change from one region to another, and our environments are differentāāāthe way trash is disposed of, and litter. So, they learn a lotāāānot only in their studies, but interacting with children of other communities, other environments and other cultures, which is a very goodĀ thing.ā
Wallace said this is beneficial for students who visit or move to other communities, or even go to college somewhere far away, because theyāll have a better understanding of how different places work in regard to recycling and disposing ofĀ trash.
āI see the growth in the students every year that they come, the enthusiasm in them,ā Wallace added. āWe also take parents, and when they go into it, they have no idea really whatās going to go onāāābut when they come out, theyāre really surprised at how the children interact with other children and the ideas that they come upĀ with.ā
Basilone said Wallace is also looking to plan a trip with the students to the ACUA Wastewater Treatment Plant in Atlantic City later in the year to see how the water is treated and where it comes from andĀ goes.
āThey will get an understanding about what Atlantic County does with their waste and how it all comes about,ā Wallace said. āWhen they go there, theyāll actually seeāāāfrom the beginning to endāāāhow the trash will be collected, how they dispose of it and what part is used asĀ energy.ā