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Earth Day Celebration Returns to SCCC

Photo Credit: Matthew Gizzi

The WRWMG is proud to announce the continuation of its Earth Day Celebration in partnership with Sussex County Community College and Halsted Middle School. SCCC welcomed 77 fifth graders from Halsted Middle School to the college campus for a day of hands-on learning and fun, all focused around protecting the natural environment. The event included a rotation of six different stations that discussed the importance of macroinvertebrates (aquatic insects) for determining stream health, how people cause non-point source pollution, the benefits of forested tree buffers along streams, the importance of recycling, plant structure and function, and the role of the Wallkill River Watershed Management Group in helping to protect Sussex County’s waterways. Representatives from the SCMUA-Wallkill River Watershed Management Group, Sussex County Clean Communities, the AmeriCorps NJ Watershed Ambassadors’ Program, SCCC’s Biology Club, and SCCC’s Adventure Club all ran stations at the event.

Throughout the afternoon, the 5th graders were excited to participate in an on-campus litter clean-up, a trail walk led by the Adventure Club, and a stormwater walk to learn how polluted stormwater runoff can negatively impact local waterways. Students left the event with a greater understanding of how they can become involved in their communities to positively benefit the natural environmental. The WRWMG is already excited to start planning the 2018 Earth Day Celebration for next year!