EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP – The Egg Harbor Township School District received a $62,729 grant from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board last month to continue and expand two middle school service-learning environmental education programs.
Only 64 districts from the United States and Canada, including two in New Jersey, received grants.
Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities, the school district said.
Through service-learning initiatives, township youth use what they’ve learned in the classroom to solve real problems, the district said. They learn the practical applications of their studies and become contributing citizens and community members in the service they perform.
The grants will continue and expand two Catawba Project curriculum programs, including Fernwood Avenue Middle School’s saltwater expeditions led by seventh-grade science teacher Jim Thoms and the community teaching garden on the grounds of the Greate Egg Harbour Township Historical Society, spearheaded by Alder Avenue Middle School teacher John Jones.
Each program educates students of the importance of reversing the negative effects of overpopulation and the overuse of lawn pesticides and fertilizers on the Great Egg Harbor River and other area watersheds.
The Catawba Project is a grassroots environmental education program began in 2000 by retired Middle School teacher Dave Crawford. It has grown into a student-centered, service-learning program that partners youth with township leaders, environmentalists, parents, community organizations, and businesses to solve environmental problems. Guided by their teachers, the program puts students in charge of their educational destiny championing causes, planning classroom activities, and implementing projects.
The largest district in Atlantic County, Egg Harbor Township jumped 41 percent from 30,726 residents in 2000 to 43,323 in 2010.
As a former rural farming community, the growth surge has caused overcrowding in the school buildings and wreaked havoc on the Great Egg Harbor River and the sea life and wildlife that depend on its cleanliness for survival.
Organizations that partner with Catawba Project leaders are JSA Contracting Enterprises LLC, the Atlantic County Utilities Authority, the Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association, the Great Egg Harbor National Scenic and Recreational River Council, the Greate Egg Harbour Township Historical Society, Duke O’ Fluke/Brook Koeneke, the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Atlantic County Master Gardeners.
Since 2006, the district has received more than $106,000 in grants for Catawba Project activities and has garnered national, state, and local awards. Those honors include being named as a 2011 Disney Planet Challenge State finalist, 2010 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Recognition Award, 2008 Environmental Quality Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2007 Patricia F. Kane Environmental Education Award by the N.J. Audubon Society, 2006/2007 N.J. Infrastructure Trust Award by the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection, and the 2006 New Jersey Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award.
The program’s name was borrowed from the South Carolina-based Catawba Tribe, a self-proclaimed “people of the river” who, according to early American settlers, were dependent on the Catawba River for their sustenance and survival. Similar to the Catawba Tribe, early settlers to Southern New Jersey were dependent on the Great Egg Harbor River for food and the shipbuilding, fishing and trading industries it provided them.
Tagged as the Catawba Project in its infancy stage, the program celebrates Egg Harbor Township’s heritage as river people dedicated to protecting and maintaining the health and wellbeing of the Great Egg Harbor River.
The State Farm Youth Advisory Board has granted over $20.7 million in grant money since 2006, empowering youth to implement service-learning activities in 331 communities.
For information about the Catawba Project, contact John Jones at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For information on State Farm Youth Advisory Board, go to visit www.statefarmyab.com.
