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FRIENDSoftheMonmouth CountyPark System, Inc.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Marilyn StaronPRESIDENT

Christopher T. BrettVICE PRESIDENT

Laura BrinkerhoffSECRETARY

Sandy MulherenTREASURER

Marcia BlackwellTracy A. BoyleHeather Kimball ColellaGail CullenHon. John D'Amico, Jr.Audrey FalzoGreg HuntBarbara J. McMorrowChris MosleyJulie MullenShirley NeffCatherine H. NiedererStephen J. Rybka

James J. TruncerEX-OFFICIO

Maria WojciechowskiEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

PAST PRESIDENTSElwood L. BaxterHeather Kimball ColellaGreg HuntFrank M. McDonoughThomas SannelliDaniel Ward SeitzRoberta SheridanMark E. Zelina

EMERITUS DIRECTORSElwood L. BaxterJoanne MullenDaniel Ward Seitz

Ii.•..

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April 3, 2013

New York - New JerseyHarbor & Estuary Program290 Broadway, 24th FloorNew York, NY 10007-1866

Dear NY-NJ HEP,

The Friends of the Monmouth County Park System, Inc. (EIN # 22-3163875) is pleased tosubmit this stewardship grant proposal to the New York - New Jersey Harbor & EstuaryProgram and the .New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission(NEIWPCC) requesting $2,800 to help fund a series of free field trips during the 2012-2013 school year for 5th grade students from eight small urban-suburban schooldistricts in the Harbor Estuary Program core area of Monmouth County that weresignificantly flooded by Super-storm Sandy. Activities will take place outdoors at theBayshore Waterfront Park, a county park system owned facility located along SandyHook Bay.

At this time, due to budget restraints, the Monmouth County Park System is unable tofund this project. Formed in 1991, the Friends of the Monmouth County Park System,Inc. is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) registered charitable organization comprised of areacitizens and businesses committed to the support of the Monmouth County ParkSystem. The Friends is seeking to raise the funds necessary to achieve the goals of thisgrant project.

After the initial recovery from the devastation caused by Super-storm Sandy to small,coastal communities in the New York and New Jersey Harbor Estuary, it's essential toimplement a vision of sustainability- restoring a better, greener, and bluer coast, tostudents that expands learning beyond the classroom with hands-on, estuarine andenvironmental education using a field trip experience, which creates a setting wherestudents may lean by seeing and doing out of the classroom environment.

Mr. Joseph Reynolds, senior park naturalist and a full-time employee with theMonmouth County Park System, will be the project leader. He will coordinate the detailsof the grant project with participating school districts, the Monmouth County ParkSystem, and the partner organization.

I appreciate your consideration of this proposal. Please feel free to call me if you havequestions. l look forward to hearing from you soon.

',." Sincerely: ,~t' dc.io;J;{i:c~echOWSki

Executive Director

_MCW: jrServing Monmouth County since 1991

PO. Box 686, Lincroft, NJ 07738 • Office 732-975-9735 • Fax 732-975-9741Maria.Wojciechowski@co.monmouth.nj.us • friendsofmonmouthcountyparks.org

APPENDIX C: TITLE PAGE

Title: Estuarine Stewardship Program for 5th Graders in Monmouth County, NJ Project Leader: Joseph Reynolds, senior park naturalist for the Monmouth County Park System, in Monmouth County, New Jersey. Phone: (732) 787-3033, ext. 2#, Fax: (732) 787-3023, email¨jreynold@monmouthcountyparks.com, Contact Information: Friends of the Monmouth County Parks, Inc. 805 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ 07738, http://www.friendsofmonmouthcountyparks.com/page.aspx?id=3774 Project Support: Maria Wojeciechowski, Executive Director, Friends of the Parks, 805 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft, NJ 07738. Phone: (732) 975-9735, Fax: (732) 975-9741, email: mcwojciec@monmouthcountyparks.com Exc. Director Wojeciechowski will provide support and assistance to the project leader when needed to carry out the financial planning of the grant project. Total Funds Requested from HEP: $2,800 Total matching funds: $1,140 Previous Funding: $3,500 Federal Tax Identification Number:22-3163875 DUNS Number: 964627637

Project Abstract The Friends of the Parks, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) charitable organization formed in 1991 to help the Monmouth County Park System achieve a number of worthwhile goals, is seeking a stewardship small grant with the objective to help fund a series of free field trips during the 2013-2014 school year for 5th grade students from eight small urban-suburban school districts in the Harbor Estuary Program core area of Monmouth County that were significantly flooded by Super-storm Sandy. Activities will take place outdoors at the Bayshore Waterfront Park, a county park system owned facility located along Sandy Hook Bay. Coastal activities include seining, plankton collection, water quality testing, and stewardship practices to improve habitat. Members of the local, all-volunteer Bayshore Watershed Council will be on hand to help provide real-world experiences and stewardship advice by local anglers, policy makers, and scientists. The methodology of the project is to provide 5th grade students a free field trip with a focus of stewardship and sustainability— restoring a better, greener, and bluer coast. This output will be followed by having the project leader conduct post-field trip in-school visits with teachers and students to evaluate their experience and to reinforce important vocabulary, goals, and concepts about the Harbor Estuary. The expected outcome from this productivity is to increase public education and community involvement, Goal 5 of the HEP Action Plan Goals, and to increase the understanding and familiarity of the harbor estuary for a specific target audience through hands-on educational experiences, as part of the project objectives of the grant RFP.

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Proposal Narrative: Small Projects ($10,000 or less) Goals and Rationale: The issue this grant project will focus on is to educate 5th grade students on the causes and effects from the impacts associated with Super-storm Sandy through active hands-on experiences with the resources of the local downstream estuarine community in Monmouth County, NJ. After the initial recovery from the devastation caused by Super-storm Sandy in 2012 to coastal communities in the NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary, it’s essential to implement a vision of sustainability— restoring a better, greener, and bluer coast, to students. The major goal of this grant project is to serve the environmental educational needs of 5th grade students from eight small school districts (municipalities with four square miles or less of land area) damaged by Super-storm Sandy and located in the HEP core area of Monmouth County. The project will help to expand a student’s geographic familiarity of the urban-suburban estuary, and to expand knowledge on ways to create a more resilient estuary. This will be accomplished by having participating 5th grade students attend a free outdoor day trip to the Bayshore Waterfront Park, a county park located along Sandy Hook Bay. This project will expand learning beyond the classroom with hands-on, estuarine and environmental education activities using a field trip experience, which creates a setting where students may lean by seeing and doing out of the classroom environment. Students will rotate through four (4) hands-on activities that include 1) seining with a 30-foot long net to examine and release aquatic creatures that live or move through shallow areas of the estuary and to take a look at ways some animals have adapted and navigate through an ever-changing environment, 2) plankton collection using microscopes to view minute life and examine primary productivity within an urban estuary, 3) water quality testing using simple inexpensive tools such as secchi discs to measure turbidity, thermometers to measure water temperature, and test strips to measure pH and nitrates, and 4) stewardship activities that focus on the causes and effects of Super-storm Sandy and the consequences of nonpoint source pollution, marine debris, climate change & sea level rise to the future strength and health of waterfront and coastal communities. Students will learn about the types, quantities, and sources of marine debris and connect with local volunteers from the Bayshore Watershed Council to lean how sustainable coastal communities can be created, in part, through the protection and enhancement of natural resources including wetlands, floodplains, beach dunes, and oyster reefs. The expected benefit of this grant project is to help increase knowledge, awareness, and stewardship for 5th graders about their local coastal-estuarine environment. Although many 5th grade students and their teachers are aware of nearby Sandy Hook Bay, Raritan Bay, and adjoining waters, numerous people still cannot not fully identify the functions or the meaning of an estuary, watershed, wetlands, or how protection of local environmental resources can create sustainable coastal communities to avoid flooding and property damage from storms. The motivation for this grant project was from the devastation caused by Super-storm Sandy to eight small municipalities in the downstream portion of the New York – New Jersey Harbor & Estuary. Each small town along Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay and the Shrewsbury River had their own unique scenario of destruction. For example, in the Borough of Union Beach (1.9 square miles of land and a population density of 3,545 people per square mile), Super-storm Sandy flooded 85 percent of the homes including 30 homes washed away by tides, and in the

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Borough of Highlands (which has less than 1 square mile of land area and a population of 6,689 people), up to 1,500 homes or 75 percent were flooded. In Sea Bright and Monmouth Beach (both barrier beach communities with about 4,000 people living in less than one square mile of land), the storm buried the towns in 4 feet of sand and destroyed over 400 homes and nearly 100 percent of businesses by rising flood waters of the Shrewsbury River. The New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program has long recognized the need to promote an educated constituency involved in the decisions affecting the ecological health of the Harbor and its living resources, as stated by Goal 5 of HEP Action Plan Goals. The need to increase stewardship and community involvement and to grow the next generation of local conservation leaders is important as we rebuild and restore coastal communities around the Harbor Estuary. Work Plan: Course of Action: This grant project will build on a 2010-2011 environmental education grant project awarded to the Monmouth County Park System from the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to deliver a series of free field trips to 5th grade students from five small school districts in the Bayshore region to the Bayshore Waterfront Park, and a 2012-2013 small grant project awarded to the Monmouth County Park System from the NY-NJ HEP and NEIWPCC to provide a series of free field trips to 5th grade students from nine school districts in the Bayshore region of Monmouth County. The continuation of serving 5th grade students from this region is in line with the long-term goals of the park system to make available a generation of people with specific knowledge and skills to incorporate stewardship into long-term planning of coastal resources. The specific actions that the project leader will carry out are as follows. In June, proposed school districts will be contacted by the project leader about the details of the grant project including a free field trip to the Bayshore Waterfront Park. Proposed school districts will be selected if they understand and agree to the following five terms of participation: 1) Schools are responsible for their own transportation to and from the field trip. 2) Arrival time is by 9:00 am. Departure time is anytime after 2:00pm. 3) Maximum number of students from each school is 120 per day. 4) Schools must bring 1 chaperone/teacher per 10 students. Teachers/chaperones will be required to assist in monitoring students during the trip. 5) All students, teachers, and chaperones must bring their own lunch (including beverages). The grant leader will initiate a series of free field trips for participating 5th grade students at the Bayshore Waterfront Park located along Sandy Hook Bay. Each student will rotate through a series of four (4) hands-on activities either near or on the beach, including seining, water testing, plankton collection, and an overview of best stewardship activities to create sustainable and resilient communities. Around noon, there will be a break for lunch. Picnic tables and bathrooms are provided at the park site. The field trip will conclude around 2:00pm. Park system program employees hired through grant funds and supervised by the project leader will then prepare the park site for the next school trip as part of the grant project. All activity materials will be provided by the Park System. At most, there will be 8 field trips over the course of the grant project, two to four classes per day.

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The field trip portion of the grant project will be followed with an in-school visit by the project leader to each participating 5th grade class to conduct post-field trip activities. This exercise will make the former field trip experience more memorable and personal by building on it with a classroom room visit. Time will be spent to facilitate student learning by reinforcing important vocabulary and concepts about HEP, and ways to get involved in local stewardship activities with local organizations including the NY-NJ Baykeeper, Clean Ocean Action, and the Bayshore Regional Watershed Council.

The grant project does not require any permits or special insurance requirements. The only special safety consideration would be if an individual has a shellfish allergy, which may prevent the person from handling clams, shrimp, or crabs during the field trip. To overcome this concern, the project leader will have cotton gloves and tongs on hand for students to use. Environmental Monitoring or Data Collection: The grant project will not be collecting any data. Personnel: The primary individual who will be involved in the project from start to finish is the project leader, Joseph Reynolds. He is a full-time employee with the Monmouth County Park System and holds a MS Degree in Environmental Studies from Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. He is a member of the New Jersey Marine Education Association, and the National Marine Educators Association. Mr. Reynolds will coordinate the details of the grant project with participating school districts, the Monmouth County Park System and Friends, and the partner organization. He will manage the quality of the field trips, conduct post-field trip visits within the school districts, and deal with the evaluation process for the project. Monies from this grant project will only fund salaries for 5 program employees to help run field trip operations at the Bayshore Waterfront Park. The Monmouth County Park System, Nature Interpretation department, hires approximately 20 program staff people annually to help conduct various environmental education programs throughout the spring, summer, and fall for schools and the general public. Five program employees with experience in marine and coastal science or studies will be retained by the project leader to help with grant field trip activities. Staff people are unidentified at this time since the park system is still in the process of hiring individuals for seasonal activities, but every effort will be made to hire individuals involved in former grant projects. Program employees connected with this grant project will be trained and supervised by the project leader. Program employees will be contracted and paid $10.00 per hour through the park system. The parks will be reimbursed for the cost of program employee salaries from grant funds applied by Friends of the Monmouth County Parks. The park system is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, sex, or any other protected classification. Location & Community Connections: The free day trip will take place at the 227 acre Bayshore Waterfront Park, located in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown Township and along Sandy Hook Bay. The park is managed by the Monmouth County Park System and is ideally situated approximately no more than 10 miles from any participating school district and near enough so participating students will not get overly tired from traveling. This coastal park provides an excellent real world laboratory where park staff has crafted science lessons using the environment to engage students in tangible exploration of watersheds, the harbor and estuary,

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and stewardship. A park brochure and map can be downloaded at this website: http://www.monmouthcountyparks.com/page.aspx?Id=2516 This project will serve over 450 fifth grade students. The eight school districts included in this project are: 1) The Borough of Atlantic Highlands, 2) the Borough of Highlands, 3) the Borough of Keyport, 4) the Borough of Keansburg, 5) the Borough of Monmouth Beach, 6) the Borough of Oceanport, 7) the Borough of Sea Bright, and 8) the Borough of Union Beach. Unfortunately, even before Super-storm Sandy occurred, there was a need for outreach to these students. Small school districts in this region face serious economic challenges that arise from restricted budgets. On average, over 55 percent of funds generated by local property taxes finance over 80 percent of local school budgets. This amount can be a financial burden to lower and middle income residents within a small urban-suburban municipality. This action has resulted in the elimination or constriction of field trip activities to 5th grade classes. Students from Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach and Oceanport have also never participated in a HEP/NEIWPCC grant project. These students have been underserved by HEP and are largely unfamiliar with the ecology of the Harbor Estuary and its importance to the larger environment. Expected Results: Output from this project will serve the environmental educational needs for 5th grade students located in the Harbor Estuary Program’s core area of Monmouth County. This will be accomplished by having participating students attend a free outdoor day trip. The outcomes from field trip programs will help students develop connections between the concepts they are studying in class with the real world and to create a vision of sustainability for the downstream portion of the estuary. Students will also learn about different professions, ideas and opportunities travelling outside their own classrooms on a field trip to become more aware of their local environment and to pursue previously unconsidered stewardship activities. A well-organized and challenging field trip has residual effects beyond the tangible outcomes of quality information. Well-planned field trips are one of the best ways of understanding a student’s local or regional environment through observation and discovery, and to visit with people who are looking ahead and thinking differently outside of the classroom or school system. Evaluation: The grant project will be evaluated by post questionnaires given to participating teachers and students. Questionnaires will help to measure performance of the project and the project leader. Some of the questions will consist of asking students what new information was learned, what activities were related to something they learned in the classroom, and what ideas do students have towards stewardship. Teachers will be asked how important the project was to the school district and to the long-term education of participating students. Success will be defined for this project if participating students express during the evaluation process an increase awareness of their local environment and Harbor Estuary, a connection between what they are studying in class with their local estuarine environment, and if they are encouraged to create a vision of sustainability for the downstream portion of the estuary. This increased understanding of their local environment and vision of sustainability would have come from the hands-on, environmental education tools used during the field trip experience.

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Partnerships: The Bayshore Regional Watershed Council (BRWC) will partner with the Friends on this grant project. Since 2000, the BRWC has been working to improve the environment in the Bayshore region of Middlesex and Monmouth counties, NJ. The BRWC is made up of volunteers, including citizens, scientists, environmental commissioners, and municipal officials from a variety of local communities. Members of the BRWC will assist the project leader during the field trip portion of the grant project. Watershed members will be on hand to help provide real-world experiences by local anglers, policy makers, and scientists to participating 5th grade students to gain a sense that what they are learning about the Harbor Estuary is actively happening in their own community and to set a course for stewardship by explaining to students that sustainable waterfront and coastal communities requires balancing the needs of the built environment with those of the natural one. Project timeline Month Year Description Month 1 2013 Notified of NY-NJ HEP Small Grant Stewardship award in May. Month 2 2013 Grant project initiated in June: The project leader will contact the

proposed school districts, as outlined by the grant proposal, to go over the scope of the grant project with school district administrators and teachers; and to set dates for field trips.

Month 3 2013 Project leader will meet with the BRWC in July to discuss particulars of grant project.

Month 4 2013 The project leader in August will select five (5) park staff that will participate in field trip activities in the autumn.

Month 5 2013 Participating school districts will receive a pre-trip letter in early September from the project leader to introduce subject matter and set expectations for the visit. The project leader will train staff, and make ready equipment and materials.

Month 6 2013 In October/early November, conduct field trip activities at Bayshore Waterfront Park. Schedule rain dates as needed.

Month 7 2013 In December, the project leader will send out post-trip questionnaire to field trip participants. The project leader will start to conduct in-school visits to evaluate their trip experience and to reinforce important concepts about the Harbor Estuary

Month 8 2014 Continue in-school visits in January as needed to evaluate field trip experience.

Months 9 & 10

2014 In May, if needed, conduct any field trips that were not conducted in fall due to extreme weather events. If needed, conduct in-school visits.

Month 11 2014 Project leader will organize post-trip evaluations in June Month 12 2014 Wrap up grant project & submit final requests for payment in July. Month 13 2014 Project leader will submit final grant report by August 15, 2014.

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BUDGET: The budget is divided into Personnel and Contracts. For personnel, the park system will fund (in-hand) the salary for the project leader, Joseph Reynolds, who is an existing full-time park employee. His pay rate is approximately $20.00 per hour and will be the source of matching funds. Under contracts, five (5) program employees in the park system during the grant project and with experience in coastal science will be retained by the project leader to help with field trip activities only. Program employees will be contracted and paid $10/hour through the park system. The parks will be reimbursed for the cost of program employee salaries from grant funds requested by Friends. APPENDIX D: BUDGET FORM

PROJECT BUDGET

BUDGET CATEGORY (Add/remove itemizing lines below major categories as necessary, but do NOT delete major categories) MATCH* GRANT

REQUEST A. PERSONNEL (list individual names and titles below) TOTAL: $1,140 Park System will fund (in-hand) the salary for the project leader: f th

Project Field Trip Management:$1,120 ($20/hour x 56 hours) In-school visits: $320 ($20/hour x 16 hours) B. FRINGE BENEFITS _____% of ______ (e.g., 10% of total personnel costs) TOTAL:

C. TRAVEL (estimate number/purpose of trips below) TOTAL:

D. EQUIPMENT** (itemize below) TOTAL:

E. SUPPLIES (itemize below) TOTAL:

F. CONTRACTS (identify & itemize below) TOTAL: $2,800Five program employees will be retained by the park system $10/hour for 5 employees for 7 hours of work per day for 8 days G. OTHER (identify & itemize below) TOTAL:

H. TOTAL DIRECT COSTS (SUM OF A-G) $1,140 $2,800I. INDIRECT COSTS _____% of ______ (e.g., 10% of total direct costs) TOTAL:

J. TOTAL PROJECT COST (SUM OF H+I) $1,140 $2,800 * Please list the source(s) of these funds and if they are in-hand, expected, or will be sought **Equipment refers to items that cost $5,000 or more each. Items of lesser cost are considered supplies.

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PO Box 541 Navesink, NJ 07752

www.restoreourbay.org

VOLUNTEERS DEDICATED TO THE RESTORATION AND CONSERVATION OF RARITAN & SANDY HOOK BAYS

Township of Aberdeen, Borough of Atlantic Highlands, Township of Hazlet, Borough of Highlands, Township of Holmdel, Borough of Keansburg, Borough of Keyport, Township of Marlboro, Borough of Matawan, Township of Middletown,

Township of Old Bridge, Borough of Sayreville, City of South Amboy, Borough of Union Beach

April 1, 2013 New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary 290 Broadway, 24th Floor New York, NY 10007-1866 Dear NY-NJ HEP, I am writing on behalf of more than 200 volunteer members of the Bayshore Regional Watershed Council, on the request made by Joseph Reynolds of the Monmouth County Park System to assist in a NY-NJ HEP small grant stewardship project to help fund a series of free field trips during the 2013-2014 school year for 5th grade students from eight small urban-suburban school districts in the Harbor Estuary Program core area of Monmouth County that were significantly flooded by Super-storm Sandy. The Bayshore Regional Watershed Council (BRWC) is fully supportive of this effort and urges the NY-NJ HEP and NEIWPCC to approve this grant request. The devastation caused by Super-storm Sandy to eight small municipalities in the downstream portion of the New York – New Jersey Harbor & Estuary was an historical disaster. The role of this grant project will help to implement a vision of sustainability— restoring a better, greener, and bluer coast, to students in the downstream potion of the Harbor Estuary, and to expand learning beyond the classroom with hands-on, estuarine and environmental education using a field trip experience. The watershed council has agreed to assist the Park System during field trip activities at the Bayshore Waterfront Park, located in Port Monmouth, NJ. Volunteers with the watershed council will assist Joseph Reynolds, the project leader, during the field trip portion of the grant project. Watershed members will be on hand to help provide real-world experiences by local anglers, policy makers, and scientists to participating 5th grade students to gain a sense that everything they are learning about the Harbor Estuary is actively happening in their own community and to provide course for stewardship. Since 2000, the Bayshore Regional Watershed Council has been working to improve the physical environment in the Bayshore region of Middlesex and Monmouth counties, New Jersey. The BRWC is made up of volunteers, including citizens, scientists, environmental commissioners, and municipal officials from a variety of Bayshore communities, from Old Bridge Township eastward to the Borough of Highlands. The council's goal is the restoration and conservation of Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay. Sincerely, Marissa Weber Marissa Weber Co-Chair

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April 1, 2013

NY-NJ Harbor Estuary Program

290 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866

To Whom It May Concern: My name is Valerie Rogers and I am the 5th grade science teacher at Keyport Central School in Keyport NJ. I have had the incredible opportunity to be able to participate the programs at the Bayshore Waterfront Park in Port Monmouth NJ for the past two years with my 5th grade classes. My students learned about the environment that they live in every day. They learned about the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary as well as the Keyport waterfront. On our trip to the waterfront park we learned about the history of the Bayshore as well as what it does for the environment and how we can preserve it for ourselves and future generations. My students walked away from this experience with a wealth of knowledge about the environment they live in. They were given a hands on experience that cannot be duplicated in any classroom and will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Keyport Central School strongly supports this program and will continue to participate in it as long as it is available to us. We will support it in any way possible. It is a wonderful opportunity for the students of Keyport. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me directly. I can be reached at vrogers@kpsdschools.org or 732-212-6100, extension 18. Sincerely, Valerie E. Rogers 4/5th grade Science Teacher Keyport Central School

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BOLGER MIDDLE SCHOOL 100 Palmer Place

Keansburg, New Jersey 07734 (732) 787-2007

(732) 495-7906 Fax http://www.keansburg.k12.nj.us

Eric Platt Gerald North Principal Superintendent

Kristen Mignoli Vice Principal

To Whom It May Concern: For the past two years I have been part of the Bayshore Waterfront Park grant project. It has been a wonderful experience for myself and also for the students of Bolger Middle School in Keansburg, New Jersey. I am fully committed to the future of this grant project as it has been such a positive event each year. This grant project has gotten my fifth grade students in the Bayshore region involved in their local environment, especially the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary. On the field trip, the students were able to go seining, examine the aquatic critters that live or move through the shallow area of the estuary, collect and identify shellfish and plankton, and perform a stewardship experiment. During each activity, the students had a multi-sensory experience you just can’t get in the classroom. They loved each activity, and were enriched by the hands-on experience. I truly hope that this grant project can continue. It is beneficial to the students, teachers, and our local environment. Thank you for your time and support. Sincerely, Renee Green 5th Grade Science Teacher Joseph Bolger Middle School

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March 30, 2013

NY-NJ Harbor Estuary Program

290 Broadway, 24th Floor, New York, NY 10007-1866

To whom it may concern,

I am writing this letter in support of the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary grant project. The fifth graders in

my school, Memorial School in Union Beach, NJ, have been lucky enough to be a part of this

grant project for the past two years. Union Beach is a small town that sits right on the Raritan

Bay. Through this grant, our students have the opportunity to learn so much about this important

body of water that is only a few blocks from them. They get hands-on experience discovering the

animal and plant life that can be found in these waters, why this estuary is so important, and what

they can do to protect it and become “stewards of the bay.”

The students are not the only ones who benefit from this grant project; we, the teachers, do as

well. The fifth grade teachers have been invited to Bayshore Waterfront Park to attend

workshops so we too can learn all we can about the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary. We, in turn, bring

this knowledge back to the classroom to share with our students. In our workshops, we

participate in hands-on activities just as the students do. After the teachers have been trained, we

bring our students to Bayshore Waterfront Park so they can experience what the teachers did.

Our students really enjoy this trip. Not only do they have a lot of fun, but they leave with a

working knowledge about the importance of our bay and what they can do to take care of it.

We in Union Beach will continue to support this wonderful grant for as long as we are given the

opportunity.

Thank you,

Georgean Raushi

Memorial School, Union Beach, NJ