Educating Students About The Bay

We are an AACPS: Volunteer Program, Oak Hill Elementary School

This year, Oak Hill Elementary’s Heroes on the Half Shell Volunteer Program was chosen by the Maryland State Bar Association for participation in their program that focuses on improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay while educating students about the Bay and their role in keeping it healthy.

Five volunteers from the Maryland Bar Association, as well as the education outreach liaison from the Oyster Recovery Partnership, came to Oak Hill to do hands-on lessons with our fourth grade students. Their objective is to use oysters to educate students about the Chesapeake Bay, its ecosystem, and the important role we all play in the Bay’s overall recovery.  The lessons teach students that they have a personal impact on the Bay and the importance of oysters in our watershed.

The students extended their learning beyond the classroom by reaching out to restaurants and organizations, collecting oyster shells, and sharing what they had learned. In one month’s time, Oak Hill students and faculty brought in more than one hundred bushels of oyster shells to be donated to the Oyster Recovery Partnership. Those shells will stay out of the local landfills – they will become substrate to support new oyster beds in our local waters.

The Heroes on the Half Shell Program was recognized at the 2018 Volunteer Breakfast as an Exemplary Volunteer Program.