The World Is Your Oyster: Marylanders Grow Oysters Program

There's a saying that goes like this: "The world is your oyster." 

It means you can go anywhere and do anything, you've got opportunity galore ahead.

It's interesting, because oysters do just that for the Chesapeake Bay. They are pretty remarkable and powerhouses on their own accord. This infographic gives a quick visual overview:

About a week and a half ago, I got to be a part of some oyster opportunity in the making. As one of the Board of Directors of Maryland Yacht Club Maritime Foundation (MYCMF), I got to see some environmental stewardship in action. The vision of MYCMF is to "inspire and motivate communities to connect with waterways through interactive life experiences." Our mission:

"The Maryland Yacht Club Maritime Foundation Inc. DBA as MYC Maritime Foundation dedicates itself to advancing education, preservation, restoration and investigation efforts through collaborative maritime programs and projects. These efforts benefit a wide and diverse range of individuals, community members and groups. The groups we serve include schools, environmental organizations, at risk youth and engaged curious individuals. The various facets of STEAM, ( Science, Technology, Education, Arts and Mathematics) are incorporated to provide the greatest benefit and impact to all involved parties."

Taking part in the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program, Maryland Yacht Club was the staging center on Thursday, September 17th for a giant drop off of nearly 100 bags of oysters, with MYCMF members keeping it running like a well-oiled ship. With the help of a local school and their battalion of 5th graders, these bags of oysters were deposited into the waters of Rock Creek off the Patapsco River, which flows into the Chesapeake Bay. I was not there that day, but it stirred up memories as a delightful throwback to my days at Eagle Cove School when we got to see the kid-side of our oyster crew, with them in action.

Two days later on Saturday, the oysters were again "on the move" on a sunny, windy, feeling-like-fall kind of day. These baby oysters were destined to exchange their 2-day home in the creek at Maryland Yacht Club for their home for the year ahead. Marylanders who wish to donate their time, effort, and their docks sign up to be part of the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program. Currently, over 1,500 volunteers who own water-front property hang oyster cages from their docks to help grow these baby oysters. This protected aquatic environment is vital for their first year of life. In June, these oysters will be relocated to oyster sanctuaries.

We were the oyster pick-up point for folks who live on Stoney Creek, Nabbs Creek, and Rock Creek who signed up to harvest the baby oysters. Really, a small cog in the wheel of the whole program for the entire state of Maryland. For about an hour and a half during the 4 hour Saturday pick-up block, I was there to lend a helping hand if needed. However, I must say, it was a pretty smooth process, already underway! 

Fun Facts from the day:

• Baby oysters are called spat once the oyster larvae has attached to empty, cleaned reclaimed oyster shells. Several oyster spat can attach to the same shell.

• One bag of oysters is the equivalent of 3 oyster cages.

• One cage holds approximately 150 oyster spat.

• Once they have been harvested for the year, the spat will be approximately 1 inch in diameter. They will be planted in local oyster sanctuaries (often called oyster beds or reefs) where they will go to work filtering the tributaries and becoming home to many marine species. 

• Oysters can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day.

• Numbers from the day:
• Stoney & Nabbs Creek had 26 oyster growers with 82 cages hanging from their piers.
• Rock Creek had 71 oyster growers with 197 pier-hanging cages.
• Come June, that means we will plant approximately 42,000 oysters on the Ft. Carroll reef (the "forever home" of these li'l guys.)

• Speaking of guys, oysters begin as males, but can change their gender as needed over their lifetime.

• The Marylanders Grow Oysters Program is a part of the Oyster Recovery Partnership. Check out their website to learn more.

   

May the world be your oyster... and thanks to the 97 area folks who are helping to grow oysters locally, taking that opportunity to be part of something bigger than themselves. Such gratitude for these environmental stewards who are raising oysters which will filter the bay. By volunteering like this to do something bigger than themselves, they have made it possible for all of us to go forward and enjoy the beauty and benefits of the Chesapeake Bay.

The world is our oyster, indeed!

Oyster infographic from https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/infographic/infographic-value-chesapeake-bay-oyster-habitat, photos from my camera.

Our Oyster Graduates

A friend of mine posted this video on Facebook recently. It is a video montage of an early fall day ten years ago at one of my favorite places: my former school where I was the 3rd grade teacher. I've often said it was perhaps the greenest school in America!

Oyster Day became an annual tradition at Eagle Cove School. Typically our eldest, the 5th graders, won the right and privilege to put on the hip-waders and be the ones to get in the water to put the oyster spat cages and bags in the water. In this video of a decade ago, though, the 4th & 5th graders were both on their annual team building outdoor trip, based on the way the calendar dates fell. So this special year, our 3rd graders, as the oldest on campus that day, earned this surprising privilege. As their 3rd grade teacher, I can guarantee, I had a lot of ecstatic kids in my class that day who got to do the really cool, big kid, important stuff.

I think it's fitting this year (AND at this time of the year) because my 2010 third graders are heading to college this fall. They are the ones that experienced their senior year spring in the middle of a pandemic and remote learning. They are the ones who had a topsy turvy, unique, & unexpected graduation. Our seniors at my current school had a socially-distanced graduation on the school campus lawn, with paper-faced faculty posters stuck to chairs so the students could have an audience there supporting them. Our seniors received their diplomas in a special, almost militarily-scheduled, individualized Diploma Ceremony, crossing the stage... all the while being video-taped, and this footage was sewn together to create a Zoom-style graduation that no one ever expected. The school did it right, and the faculty, staff, and parents were proud. As I watched our 2020 graduation (where many of my former 3rd graders were graduating), I was touched, and often thought of those environmentally-active third graders of a decade ago.

Now, as we have hit this point at the end of summer, these once-third graders are heading to college. Some heading to campus while others are readying for a semester online at their own homes. For that reason, this video seemed more than just memories to me, but a tribute to all of those former students of mine as they head off into their next adventure. Masks in hand, ready to put on when they get to campus... maybe getting a Covid test along with all their text books... and ready to dive into this next chapter. May we wish them well as they pack the car, deck out their dorms, and find new passions and pals. They will rock it! Of this I know!

Video created by Carl Treff, from https://youtu.be/XQtRmi3VjME, Image from https://theamericanonews.com/2020/03/24/college-bound-in-the-time-of-coronavirus-heres-what-class-2020-can-do-to-succeed/ and https://www.okaloosaschools.com/programs/hs/college-bound

Oyster Shaking for the Bay

When you have a high schooler who needs service hours, you find yourself in search of new opportunities, often taking part, and often times doing so as a family.

Yesterday was one of those.

My kids and I headed down to Shady Side, Maryland to "do a little oyster shaking." Having never done that before, I wasn't quite sure what it all entailed. 

I had an bit of an idea what it was based on my days at Eagle Cove School. There, my 3rd graders raised oyster spat and had to weekly shake sediment off the oysters within the cage at the end of our school's dock. After a year of doing that every Friday in Science, we always had a spring field trip where Chesapeake Bay Foundation arrived by boat at our pier, clearly making it the best field trip ever! Once on board, we traveled along the Magothy River where the students measured salinity and turbidity before releasing the oysters into the Bay at a designated oyster sanctuary. 

Oyster shaking wasn't anything like that!

 Instead, it involved shoveling oyster shells that were essentially being recycled from restaurants. Lots of oyster shells! Individually, they barely weigh anything. En masse, they aren't exactly light! I'm feeling it in my back and arms today after 2 hours yesterday of shoveling the shells into a super-sized sifter, then shaking out all the dirt and sediment, then lifting the sifter to dump them into the cages. These cages will later be taken to giant vats to be further cleaned with water, then deposited on their oyster boat, and delivered to a variety of oyster sanctuaries in the Chesapeake Bay.  It was quite an operation!

We were 3 of the 15 or so volunteers that showed up at the Maryland Oyster Restoration Center for the 4-hour Friday volunteer window. It became pretty clear to myself and my two kids that we'd never make it all four hours in the 90° heat! We were proud of our two hours of "mission completion"--with loads of hydrating and some recovery time in the shade to get our 2nd, 3rd, or 4th wind. It was definitely physical work, and we went home quite sweaty and grimy by the end of our morning!

As with any degree of service activity, there's always that element of feeling good at being a part of something outside yourself. Shoveling gives you some reflection time.  I had a few other major take-aways from the experience as well:

• Sometimes physical work is exactly what you need. You get into a bit of a rhythm between the shoveling and then the shaking. Physical movement, and a little bit of sweat and muscle ache are good for the soul. I'm not sure my middle school son had that same take away, but it also builds perspective and gratitude. He was quite thankful he didn't have to do this job every day! 😉

• Each of these oyster shells, once part of someone's meal, are now going forward to help become the new home of future oysters, which will filter the water and help clean the Bay. That reward will come back around to all of us who enjoy fishing, canoeing, boating, swimming, playing in (and eating from) the Bay.

• It was good to be in control of something in this out of control world. (It also was a good way to get a little aggression out!) It's been a hard week for Annapolis--our virtual backyard--with the fatal events at the Capital Gazette on Thursday. It felt good to do a little something for our community and the Bay via Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

• It bears repeating again: it felt good to be part of something bigger than you. Those oyster mounds were pretty darn big, and it certainly didn't get tackled in our 2 hours, nor would it after the collection of volunteers left yesterday, even if we all did all 4 hours.  The fact that a community of volunteers come each week to do this for our Bay certainly shows the strength of environmental stewardship.

Speaking of which... there are still more oysters! If you are in Maryland and want to do something good for the Bay, clear a Friday morning or two this summer. Head to Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Shell Shaking page to learn more and register for one of the following dates:

July 6, 20, 27

August 10, 17, 24, 31

For other, less hefty volunteer opportunities through CBF, be sure to check out their website.

Special thanks to Anna Mudd, CBF's Maryland Outreach & Advocacy Manager for showing us the ropes, educating us along the way as to why shell shaking was such a vital part of Bay restoration,  encouraging us to take breaks, and giving us a tour of the facility. We learned a lot from you and it was a great way to spend the day!

Images from my camera at the Maryland Oyster Restoration Center in Shady Side, Maryland.

An Impromptu Day on the Bay: Fifth Grade Field Trip Style

The circles of life are so fascinating!

Wednesday I got to go last minute to Chesapeake Bay Foundation with son's 5th grade class on a field trip today, as they didn't have enough chaperones.

When your Head asks you to go, you go. And when you get there...you are so grateful that you did!!

It hit me when the bus pulled in and I saw Tiffany, our always "First Mate" of the boat--it hit me then that I almost missed this trip because I was über in back-to-school teacher mode here at the beginning of the year, and I nearly missed the bigger picture: my "mom" and "historic side."

I was not truly thinking that this was THAT trip.  The big ah-ha moment:  This was essentially my Eagle Cove 3rd grade oyster boat field trip, where the boat came right up to our pier. The one that was always was:

"Best.    Field Trip.    Ever."

As my son and I were talking to his buddies on this trip, we came to the conclusion that this was year 9 of the past 10 years I have gotten to go on this trip!!! Last year, in particular, I was teaching 5th grade at my current school when we made this trip.  Such good memories of the past, and so many smiles from this week.

When my old school, Eagle Cove, closed, my son was in 2nd grade. I was the 3rd grade teacher. The following year he was destined to be in my class, and take part of "all things 3rd grade." On that day that it was announced that our school was to close in June (and all the subsequent months to June), I mourned.  I mourned many things, but one element that was particularly heartbreaking was that I would never get to go on the CBF trip with my son. 

But this week, I did! I had always said it previously--9 times these last 10 years, but it was true:  
Best.  
Field Trip.  
Ever.

This Wednesday, I had a goofy grin on my face all day.

The kismit in the day was immense the more I thought of it--especially when I realized how easily I could have missed it. The boating. The "green" building. The canoeing. The shore-side picnic. The more I thought about it after the fact, the more it hit me that I was blessed, encountering a rare and magical moment that was meant to be.  Something I thought would never happen.  Something in my daze of "back to school" I almost missed.

There's nothing more rewarding than a day outdoors, a day chock-filled with memories, and a day with your kids.

Best.

Field Trip.

Ever.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation's "Save The Bay" Video

Being a Maryander now, these 3 words are ones you hear often:  "Save the Bay."

The health of the Chesapeake Bay is something a lot of us are concerned about.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has done a nice job of creating a powerful and beautiful video that makes you want to do just that:  Save the Bay.


Save the Bay from Chesapeake Bay Foundation on Vimeo.



Video from https://www.cbf.org/about-cbf/discovery-video or https://vimeo.com/158501858

The Chiropractic Realignment of Body & Spirit... By Way of the Great Outdoors

This week I was reminded of a few things... It was almost as if I went to the "mental chiropractor." I was "realigned" in body and spirit, in work and balance!

Yes, Virginia, there is more room in life than merely work (& grading papers).

[Is that spoken like a teacher or what?!]

Sad but true... I had forgotten about that "more to life" thing. I didn't feel like I had the luxury of slowing down right now.  For good reason--but still!

(My good reason: I took on a long-term, leave of absence, classroom teaching position in my school--mid-August, just two weeks before the start of back-to-school teacher meetings. Instead of my "regularly scheduled tech integrator position" I was gearing up for, I was back in the classroom... with all that goes with that in August. Crafting lesson plans and learning curriculum, I'm often still operating in a short-term punt of "creating it as I go." Not to mention, the beginning of the school year is never slow and dull anyway, for anyone!!)

So how does one step "away from the dark side" and "out from under the rock?"  By taking part in a well-timed grade-level eco-adventure field trip with 36 kids.  What makes it an eco-adventure?  We all went to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Merrill Center where we canoed, seined, and investigated the elements of "green" building-ness of the center. We spent the afternoon out on The Margarite, an educational vessel and an old friend (as I've ridden on her time and time again).  On it, we pulled up some oysters, checked out bay life by boat-ride binoculars, and did a little fishing to determine the biodiversity of the bay. It reminded me of my "eco-days" at a dear little place called Eagle Cove School, and my memories of the "best field trip ever!

What this trip also reminded me is how we can get lost in the minutia of everyday life.  Getting all those papers graded, getting all that laundry done.  All the while, losing a whole lot of yourself in the process.  From the vantage point of the inside of a canoe, seeing the still water, with a blue heron flying overhead, with a backdrop of red and rust-colored leaves peppering the trees--you have that "ah ha!" moment of remembrance. That's what I needed.

Add in the reminder of days gone by of "my old (less harried) self," I was struck by how much I missed me.

Proving the point that despite doing the good job of teaching the youth of America, you have to do the self-persevering thing.  It's what they tell you on the plane while going through the pre-flight reminders: put your own life mask on first. This 3 day weekend ahead, I intend to do just that!

What do you intend to do for "you" this weekend ahead?

Pictures from my camera!

Save the Oyster, Save the Bay, Save the Memories

As the middle of May starts making its way to the end of the month, it's traditional for some super culminating trips to make their way into my 3rd Grade, Eagle Cove School calendar.   

This week, as luck and the calendar would have it, two of our eco-favorite trips landed right back to back. Here's an iMovie musical montage of our class' pictures our from Tuesday's Oyster Release trip with Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  Captain Foster & Miss Tiffany treated us to an educational day on the Magothy River.  Like old friends, they come right up to the dock each year with their boat, The Maurguerite.  From there, we take off on our floating classroom to return the oyster spat (that we have been raising all year) to the perfect spot in the river--one with the proper oxygen levels, clarity, salination, and more for our oysters to survive and thrive.  

Every year, it ranks in my mind as "best trip ev-ah!"  This year did not disappoint.  It was made extra special and bittersweet as I was on the boat, thinking about this as being our last trip, given the school's closing this June.  When you realize that something wonderful is going away, you take a little extra time to cherish it.  That's what I did, midst idyllic weather on Tuesday, snapping pictures galore to lock it in.  May the movie help my memory, and delight yours.

ECS Oyster Release on the Magothy River 5/20/2014 from Vicki Dabrowka

Video created in iMovie, using my snapshots of the day.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation logo from http://www.cbf.org/

"Save The Magothy River" ~ An Oyster Documentary

“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” ~Marc Riboud

“Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.” ~Walt Disney Company

 I think the same thing can be said with the taking, and sharing, of videos.  Especially when multiple video clips are put together to tell a story.  Especially when that story is a rescue mission to save the Chesapeake Bay.

The latest story that has been told and that needs to be shared is Charles Germain's video documentary entitled "Save the Magothy River."  With interviews and assistance from The Magothy River Association, Department of Natural Resources & the Maryland Grow Oysters Program, Eagle Cove School, Horn Point Laboratories, and Chesapeake Clear Video, Charles Germain has created an amazing and informative ten minute documentary on the sights and sounds of the Chesapeake Bay...and how instrumental oysters are in filtering the bay.

Watch "Save the Magothy River" here, or check it out at this link.  Charles Germain uses his pictures and videos to beautifully remind us how powerful a few individuals can be, especially when that force grows and a community "takes action."


Save The Magothy River from Charles Germain on Vimeo.


Video by Charles Germain: https://vimeo.com/79028979#
Pictures are screen shots from Charles Germain's video: https://vimeo.com/79028979#
Quotes from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/pictures

Senator Simonaire's 2nd Annual Chesapeake Summit

Random Thursday evenings can bring you a myriad of things.  Given they are the night of Sept. 26, 2013 and you are in Pasadena, Maryland at Chesapeake Bay Middle School, what it'll bring you is the 2nd Annual Chesapeake Summit hosted by Maryland Senator Bryan Simonaire and his daughter Meagan Simonaire.  Inquiring minds might want to know what exactly it is that this brings.  Well, it brings together Senator Simonaire, the local community, several students from 11 area schools, and Dr. Donald "Mutt" Merritt on the subject of The Chesapeake Bay and the Oyster Restoration Program.

The 1+ hour program featured "Mutt" Merritt speaking on Horn Point Oyster Hatchery and the "true partnership between all concerned parties that led to the hatchery...and  the 3 factors that have taken our Chesapeake Bay oyster population (wonderful filters that they are) down, leading to the "demise of an inexhaustible resource:"

• Over-harvesting
• Habitat destruction
• Disease
• (and the lesser noted one:)  Misplaced priorities

He also spoke of the environmental, economical, and social importance of oysters--how they are the Chesapeake's equivalent to a coral reef, bringing together habitat and biodiversity, not just for oysters, but for many other marine species.  Add in the historic value of oysters on both Maryland and Virginia's past, and the oysters ability to clean & filter the water of sediment, nutrients, and overall-improve the water quality of the bay and its tributaries...we need these li'l oyster guys to flourish!  Especially since humans have led to their demise.

So insert the kids and the Senator here.

The Chesapeake Summit was started to stress that point that we "always need to be doing better."  Who else to do that and show case that than children?  Senator Simonaire paid tribute to 21 individual students from 10 area schools, and the whole student body of Eagle Cove School for their work to not only help the Chesapeake Bay, but also in areas of conservation, recycling, and environmental education as brought about by the students themselves.  Students from preschool age to high school age were honored for their eco-achievements.  A lot of good things are going on in Anne Arundel County Maryland for the environment and Chesapeake Bay area!!

Eagle Cove School was commended as a whole school for the entire student body participating for many years now in the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program. This year, 60 bags, at about 40 pounds each, were delivered to the water to await pick up by Marylanders as Eagle Cove School served as a drop off point for later pick up by community members.  Children as young as 3 and as old as 5th grade served as that 2,400 pound total transportation system.  Senator Simonaire had citations ready for every Eagle Cove student (in addition to the other 21 students honored), and presented them to the 7 ECS children who were able to attend the ceremony with their parents.

In a world where the nightly news brings along enough bad news per night to fill up your week, it was nice to be surrounded by "the good stuff" for once, seeing these young kids from all these school, doing so many great things for our planet!!

To see pictures of the event over at Senator Simonaire's website, be sure to click here.

To see highlights of Eagle Cove School's Oyster Day last year, click here.

All pictures here taken from my camera the night of the event 

or from the ECS citations awarded by Senator Simonaire.

If You're in the Neighborhood of Cambridge Maryland...

...on Saturday, October 5th from 1-5, this might be just the event for you!

If you're in the neighborhood, come celebrate the Chesapeake Bay and their oyster restoration program at the Bill Burton Fishing Pier.  Bill Burton was known for his outdoor reporting for many-a-year for the Baltimore Sun, and honored & memorialized with a named fishing pier in 2010.  His words say it best in a video I've shared before, but well worth sharing here again!

To read more about Bill Burton from the GTG archives, check out:

A Reel Expert Can Tackle Anything (7-24-2010)

Teach A Kid To Fish And He/She Will Have A Passion For A Lifetime (10-4-2010)

Video from http://youtu.be/dTxOldtb4AE.

Eco News at Schools

Lately, there's been some great eco news in and around Anne Arundel County Maryland--that kind of good news worth sharing.  Some of it has involved "Yours Truly"...other is just plain great things going on in Maryland regarding environmental education.  Check it out!

ECS Third-Graders Combine Lessons On Annual Bay Bridge Trip 

by Meredith Thompson 5/14/2013

Pictures & Mini-Post of "Third Graders Restore Oysters" over on Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Facebook Page (dated Thursday, May 30th)

My iMovie video of the above "Oyster Graduation Day" with Chesapeake Bay Foundation:  Password: Oysters2013

MAEOE ("Maryland Association of Environmental & Outdoor Educator")'s  Youth Summit was held this past Friday, May 31st.  Read all about the event and Governor Martin O'Malley's appearance there at The Washington Sun.

Clean Water Concert Series starts this weekend in Easton, Maryland

pics from: 
https://www.facebook.com/chesapeakebay?hc_location=stream

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Oyster kiss pic by their own Tiffany Granberg & Foster Nost
Maryland Green School from http://www.maeoe.org
Clean Water Concert Series from  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151650667375943&set=a.74690925942.110101.8914040942&type=1&theater

Oysters Ahoy!

Oysters are nature's bay-filters and water-cleaners.
Young PreK'ers to 5th graders carried oyster
Spat from truck to pier, to the edge of the Magothy River.
Totalling 2,600 lbs, these oysters found a temporary home in
Eagle Cove School's neighboring river on Sept. 7th, 2012.
Radical teamwork at it's finest! Working together to
Serve our community and help build a better Chesapeake Bay!

To learn more about Eagle Cove School's involvement with the Magothy Rivery Association and Marylanders Grow Oysters Program, check out the September 18th article in the Pasadena Voice Newspaper:  Eagle Cove School Students Place 2,600 Pounds Of Oysters In Magothy

 

 

 

Pictures from my Camera @ Eagle Cove School, Friday, Sept. 7th, 2012.