The World is a 5th Grader’s Oyster: A School Program Empowers Bridgeport, Connecticut Youth
Mill River Wetland Committee’s Beginnings
In 1966, Joy Shaw, a powerhouse conservationist, founded the Mill River Wetland Committee. Joy started a movement with her neighbors and allies to protect her home, the Mill River, which is located in Connecticut. While organizing, she began teaching the younger generation about their environment. Her vision continues to influence Mill River’s educational programs, including the Mill River Wetland Committee’s Watershed Unit.
Mill River’s Watershed Unit uses a citizen science-focused pen pal exchange system to connect two schools on opposite sides of the Long Island Sound estuary. One of the schools located on the East Side of Bridgeport, Connecticut is an environmentally distressed community. Through the pen pal system, students located in Bridgeport share their collected data in exchange for the adjacent school’s findings. For Bridgeport-based students, learning about a different place opens a world of possibilities for their future endeavors.
A Day in the Classroom
As students walk into the room, they see oyster shells in bins and two tanks bubbling up with water on a table. A student approaches the tank containing oysters. Samantha Anderson, Mill River’s Educate Director, gathers the 5th graders’ attention as they sit down. She mentions the citizen science findings from their last class trip and starts to get them excited for what they’ll be learning today.
Tim Macklin, Collective Oyster Recycling and Restoration’s co-founder, leads the class in a demonstration of pouring algae into the tank with oysters. After an hour of Tim and Samantha teaching, the pupils expectantly got up from their seats to witness the oysters. The tank holding the oysters became as clear as the one sitting next to it. As Samantha asked why the oysters made the water clear, hands shot up with answers. After the students guessed, the group came to a general consensus: the oysters consumed the algae! Amid the conversations, one hungry student talked about how delicious shellfish was, which made everyone, including the teaching assistants, smile.
Making Connections
In the previous class, students of the Watershed Unit curriculum learned about plankton, also known as micro-algae. Now, after seeing the oysters eating the algae in real time, the next activity is to create a food web. Each student represents a different organism (a gull, oyster, or plankton). Participants of the activity have to figure out who eats what and pass a thread of yarn to each other. After the lines were sorted, the class was able to see how the organisms were all connected. Every class builds upon the next, helping students become more conscious of their environment. For their next meeting, they will go outside to see the ecosystem in action.
An Intergenerational Effort Keep the Programs Running
Since Mill River is a nimble organization, volunteer teaching assistants are an essential part of its programs. Volunteers are connected to the program through their families. The teaching assistants have seen their own children and grandchildren progress through Mill River’s classes. This intergenerational arrangement creates a caring and reciprocal community, prompting future generations of students to continue the movement.
Inspiring and Empowering Future Leaders
The Watershed Unit gives students the power of knowledge. Not only are students equipped with scientific facts, but also the opportunity to discover their interests and passions. Communities like Bridgeport, which are environmentally distressed, benefit from access to such opportunities. Through a multi-generational effort, Joy’s environmental education programs are inspiring and empowering students one “a-ha” moment at a time. Restore America’s Estuaries through our stewardship of EPA’s Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund program is excited to support this work and see it flourish for many years to come.
