Alternative School Students Pitch In On Wetlands Project

April 15, 2004

Inquirer and Mirror Newspaper Article

Five Nantucket High School students joined forces with the Land Council Tuesday for a wetland dune restoration project at Nobadeer Beach near Nantucket Memorial Airport.

Students in the high school's Alternative School teamed up with Land Council ecologist Cormac Collier and began planting more than 1,500 stalks of dune grass in a pocket wetland that had been damaged by vehicles driving on and off the beach.

The program is a joint effort of the Land Council, the Conservation Commission, Marine Department, Nantucket Memorial Airport and the Beach Management Advisory Committee.

"A lot of people have been driving in here and tearing it up," Collier said. "Erosion is slowly creeping up toward the airport so this creates more dunes and erosion control areas and it helps protect the inland areas."

The Strong Wings adventure school's environmental discovery program, which provides the science component

for the Alternative School at NHS, offers hands-on learning for students and focuses on community service projects like the Nobadeer dune restoration project. Kim Freitas, an outdoor educator with Strong Wings, teaches the environmental science class.

"This program really helps the kids meet challenges and teaches self-esteem, independence and teamwork," Freitas said.

The students, along with Collier and Freitas, began planting the stalks of dune grass in one of the areas that had been used as an access point for vehicles traveling on and off the beach. Collier said he hopes to plant all the dune grass and then erect a fence and signs discouraging vehicles from entering the area.

"It's better than your average science class," said Randy Murphy, a 10th-grade student who took part in the project. "It's definitely out of the ordinary and we get to do some really interesting things. We learn a lot

more by going out and doing the things we learn about."

Collier instructed the students to dig about six inches into the sand with their hands and place two stalks of dune grass in each hole. The students placed the holes about a foot apart and began covering an area that led up to the beach.

"Instead of looking at pictures in a book we get to go out and do the things we learn about," said ninth grader Nikki Meade. "We're outside every day so it's very hands-on."

Although the class-time ended before all 1,500 stalks could be planted, Collier said he will continue working with the airport to finish the job and get the rest of the dune grass planted.

"It's a diverse wetland and we're creating habitat for the birds, insects and other wildlife here," Collier said. "It's useless to drive through here and the people that do like to tear down signs. You can't really police this area so it's an education thing."

By Jason Graziadei : I&M Staff Writer

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