04-20-06: Grass Class: Elementary Students Learn to Care As They Grow ... Grasses

Wilmington Star-News
Published 4-20-06
Written by: Gareth McGrath
Staff Photo by: Ken Blevins

Grass Class: Elementary students learn to care as they grow, plant marsh grasses

Ten-year-old Brody Brails¬ford, a fifth-grader at Wrightsville Beach Elementary, grabs another handful of salt marsh cordgrass plants as Tracy Skrabal, senior scientist with the N.C. Coastal Federation, digs another hole for the plants Thursday in Holly Ridge.

Taking the classroom outside, Brody was one of almost 50 students who helped plant more than 2,000 marsh grasses at the Federation’s Morris Landing site. The students had been cultivating the plants at their school since January. The grasses will be used to stabilize eroded portions of the 52-acre site along Stump Sound.

Along with planting, the students also explored the flora and fauna that inhabit the marsh. Wrightsville Elementary is one of nine coastal schools participating in the Federation’s Wetland Nursery program.

Sarah Phillips, the environ¬mental group’s education coordinator, said the goal is to get children interested in the health of the coastal environment at an early age.
“If they learn to care about something during that time, they’re more likely to stick with it as they get older,” she said.