Local School Children Taking Part In Save The Bay’s Dune Grass Restoration Project At Newport’s Easton’s Beach

NEWPORT, RI – During several days between April 2-10, students from the Gordon School in East Providence and Pell Elementary School in Newport will join Save The Bay at Easton’s Beach in Newport to help plant 6,500 beach grasses as part of the non-profit organization’s habitat restoration efforts.

On Thursday, April 2, 45 second-graders from Providence’s Gordon School will join Save The Bay’s Education team at Easton’s Beach to plant along the east side of the beach. At the leading of second-grade teacher Kate Mercurio, this marks the second year the school has joined in Save The Bay’s dune grass planting projects. Gordon School’s involvement with Save The Bay actually began 10 years ago as part of the organization’s marine science education programs. “Because of that long-term partnership, we felt comfortable reaching out to Gordon School last year when we needed volunteers to help us with dunegrass plantings at RISD Beach in Barrington. The teacher came to us this year looking for similar projects she could involve her students in. It’s a perfect fit with their conservation unit in school,” said Bridget Kubis Prescott, education director at Save The Bay.

On April 6, 7, 9 and 10, nearly 200 students in the entire third grade at Newport’s Pell Elementary School will join Save The Bay to help plant beach grasses at Easton’s Beach, making this the third consecutive year that the school has partnered with Save The Bay in its habitat restoration efforts. Last the year, Pell school students joined volunteers fro Blue Cross Blue Shield RI to plant 4,400 beach grass plants at Easton’s Beach, and this year, its involvement with Save The Bay goes much deeper. Third-grade teacher Jennifer Hole applied for and received a SPARK grant from the Rhode Island Foundation, which enables the Pell students to participate in a number of programs with Save The Bay this year. The beach grass plantings at Easton’s Beach make up this restoration component of the school’s third-grade science curriculum. Later in the year, the school will participate in an onboard marine science education program and a bay experience program with live animals.

Since 2012, Save The Bay has partnered with the City of Newport to restore dunes in natural areas along the beach. Beach grasses help trap sand to form small dunes that provide habitat for wildlife and prevent additional sand from being blown off the beach. In a 2012 pilot project, 1,000 plugs of beach grass planted in a median area at Easton’s Beach became established and formed a small dune that did not erode during Superstorm Sandy, in comparison to other areas that were not planted. “The area next to the pilot beach grass planting eroded significantly during Superstorm Sandy, while the beach grass area planted just the spring before the storm suffered little erosion. Involving students and community members in the planting of beach grass enhances individual and community understanding of the benefit that these small plants have collectively,” said Wenley Ferguson, habitat restoration director at Save The Bay. The City of the Newport has purchased the plants for the past three years, but this year was able to secure funding from coordinators of a Newport marathon for the purpose of restablishing dunes that were trampled by runners during that marathon last fall.

The beach grass planting project at Easton’s Beach is ideally located adjacent to Save The Bay’s Exploration Center and Aquarium, where thousands of students from throughout Newport and Rhode Island participate in environmental education and marine sciences programs. “Involving our students in hands-on projects that directaly benefit the environment, we effectively fulfill two vital goals: restoring damaged habitat in Narragansett Bay and teaching the next generation of Bay stewards how they can make a true difference for our planet,” said Save The Bay Educator Adam Kovarsky, who has been working directly with students and volunteers on the Easton’s Beach dune grass project. “These young people hopefully will go on to make positive decisions for our environment throughout their lives, remembering the wonderful benefit to their local wildlife and habitat structure.”

Leave a comment