THE FRIENDS OF MERRYMEETING BAY’S biannual Bay Day took place Tuesday at the Chop Point School in Woolwich. Seven area schools and 242 students participated in the event geared toward teaching environmental awareness and conservation. Above, volunteers pull in a haul of fish at the beach seining station for students to examine.
Students, mostly of fourth grade classes, selected three out of more than 20 hands-on activities available to learn about Merrymeeting Bay’s natural resources and conservation practices.
“We’re celebrating biodiversity and encouraging stewardship of the environment,” said Dup Crosson, Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s coordinator and event organizer. “This is a culmination of our Hands Around the Bay program. We have volunteers here from the state department, marine resources and a lot of local experts who are artists, history buffs and archaeologists.”
STUDENTS participate in an archaeological dig.
Bay Days, held in the spring at Chop Point and in the fall in Bowdoinham, are a “meeting of the minds,” said Crosson, where the goal of the hands-on program is to get the students “muddy, and as involved as possible.”
A VOLUNTEER demonstrates how fish are measured during the biannual Bay Day at Chop Point School in Woolwich.
“Every kid responds differently, so I think the variety of activities here helps connect everybody in a different way,” said Crosson. “Some people make the connection between seeing a fish in a net and what needs to be done to protect that fish. Other people need to do an artform to experience that.”
Students from Chop Point and Woolwich, Georgetown, Bowdoin, Topsham and Bath schools were among those in attendance.
For more information about Bay Day, contact Crosson at fomb@comcast.net or visit www.friendsofmerrymeetingbay.org
rgargiulo@timesrecord.com
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