Atlantic White Cedar Project
The Atlantic White Cedar is an endangered tree found along the coast in Worcester County. When this area was first settled, the Atlantic White Cedar was plentiful and provided much needed habitat in wetlands. Unfortunately, over harvesting of the trees led to a dramatic decrease in their numbers. Over the past two years, every seventh grade student has been involved in planting and restoring this necessary habitat. Employees from the National Aquarium in Baltimore traveled to Snow Hill to work with the students for their service learning project. During the school years 14-15 and 15-16, the aquarium provided 250 Atlantic White Cedar trees. In the fall, with the assistance of the Aquarium employees, the students repotted and placed the trees in cold storage for the winter. At this time, the students also learned the historical importance of the Atlantic White Cedar trees and how they became endangered. In the spring, the Aquarium employees traveled with the students to the Nassawango Nature Conservancy located outside of Snow Hill where every student participated in properly planting the 250 trees that were wintered over at the school plus 250 more trees provided by the Aquarium.
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Bluebird Nest
During school year 2014-2015, the eighth grade students collaborated with staff from Assateague Island State Park to build and install bluebird boxes. The students received a short lesson on the importance of the boxes before designing and building them. The students then mounted the boxes on posts and placed them on the school property. Every year the current 8th grade students clean out the boxes, make repairs, and replace if necessary.