Carusi students fight erosion, learn value of teamwork
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
3/28/2008

Community service project makes a difference by planting 5,000 stalks of beach grass in Island Beach State Park

If the students of Carusi Middle School went every week to Island Beach State Park to plant beach grass, the state park would be in danger of being overrun by the helpful vegetation.

Carusi students flocked to the Island Beach State Park on March 12 for the sixth annual community service project as part of the school’s annual Mount Misery trip. About 100 sixth grade students visited the national park, Coordinator of the Environmental Program of Mt. Misery John Deitelbaum said, and planted more than 5,000 stalks of beach grass to prevent erosion.

“It’s a great experience for these students to participate in a community service project that really makes a difference in the environment,” Deitelbaum said. “It really teaches the students about the delicate balance of the island and how important natural barrier islands are for the mainland.”

One of the few remaining undeveloped barrier islands on the Atlantic coast, Island Beach is one of New Jersey’s last significant remnants of a barrier island ecosystem that once existed along much of the Atlantic coast. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, the park hosts the state’s largest osprey colony, as well as peregrine falcons, wading birds, shorebirds, waterfowl and migrating songbirds.

Volunteers who plant beach grass help strengthen the ecosystem of the island, Deitelbaum said, as the grass helps prevent dune erosion. The roots of the beach grass stalks act like a grid and connect together to keep the sand intact.

A team of about 100 students went to the beach to plant the stalks, Deitelbaum said, and the group surpassed all expectations. Administrators of the Island Beach State Park had set aside 2,500 beach grass stalks for the students, which typically takes a good deal of effort to plant. Students have to dig down as far as they can, generally four to five feet deep, and then gently plant the grass.

Students planted the 2,500 stalks in about 15 minutes. Island Beach employees had to be sent out to collect more beach grass, which was then planted in about half an hour.

The activity served as a great team working exercise, several sixth-grade students said upon returning to school on March 17.

“It really taught you how to work together as a team. Each member had a specific job to do, and everyone really did a good job,” Jacob Lentini, 12, said. “If you work hard, you can really be successful in what you do.”

The students visited Island Beach State Park as part of their Mt. Misery trip, a special program that sees the sixth-grade students of the Cherry Hill School District spend a week away from school and home to learn about the environment. The trip has been an annual tradition in the school district for more than 30 years.

Jennifer Gitler, 12, said the trip allowed the students a hands-on lesson that is difficult to experience in a classroom setting.

“It was great. We were able to test the Mt. Misery Lake for water quality and find different bugs and insects,” she said. “The activities were really fun, and we were able to just get right in and do them with a team.”

Two other sixth grade students, Allie Robinson, 11, and Christian Thomas, 12, echoed the sentiments of their fellow students and praised the trip for its unique experience.

“Everyone had their own jobs, someone would have to dig, someone would have to plant the grass, it was really fun,” Thomas said. “Everyone worked well together, and it was just great teamwork.”

Another group of students will head out to Island Beach State Park in late March, but might not have the opportunity to plant beach grass.

Beach grass, at the latest, can be planted successfully in late March or early April, depending on the water quality of the soil. Robinson said she and her fellow students would definitely go back again to volunteer and plant more grass.

“It was really fun working with different friends and getting to meet different people in our grade,” she said. “I would definitely go back again to plant more grass and help the dunes at the state park.”

For more information on the state park, how to volunteer, and when to visit, please visit the Island Beach Web site at state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/island.html.