Schools

St. Veronica Students Take Their Classroom to the Shore

Eighth graders travel to Sandy Hook

When the ocean is just a short drive away learning about subjects like marine biology can take on a whole new meaning when they are learned up close and personal. 

For eighth graders at St. Veronica School a trip to Sandy Hook last month provided a unique experience to learn their lessons first hand. Lead by Debra Palmer the students continued what has become an annual tradition at the school as they learned about the environment around them. 

The students got the chance to wear chest waders into the bay, caught animals like jellyfish, snails and crabs and helped return them to the bay after studying them. They also did water studies for things like salinity and dissolved oxygen levels according to a press release from the school. 

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Not only did they learn about the water and the things that live in it, they also studied ecology during the trip. Lessons included studying about birds like the osprey in the area and the work done to the estuary where they live. 

Having enjoyed a picnic lunch the local students also go the chance to work in a lab where they saw things like plankton and microscopic marine life at a new level. 

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Vice Principal Joanne Nelson said the day was a special experience for the students. "This educational field trip on Salt Marsh Ecology brought what we teach in the classroom to life," she said. "I loved seeing the faces of my students as they laughed and learned. This hands-on approach in education is lasting!"

Nelson said the day served as an inspiration to the people who could someday work in the field in the future. "At the end of the day, many of my students expressed an interest in investigating further some aspect of the day from endangered species to conservation, from water pollution to marine biology studies."


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