$4,500 Lowe's Grant Boosts D'Ippolito's Participation in Oyster Restoration Project

D'Ippolito School will advance its participation in a Delaware Bay oyster restoration project, thanks to a $4,500 grant through the Lowe's Toolbox for Education Program, said Gail Curcio, the school's principal.

The grant, written by Melissa Painter, a kindergarten collaborative support teacher, will help D'Ippolito continue in Project PORTS (Promoting Oyster Restoration Through Schools). This project is a community based restoration and educational program focusing on the importance of oysters in the Delaware Bay ecosystem. The goal of Project PORTS is to restore oyster habitats and to increase an awareness and understanding of the oyster as keystone species and an important natural resource of the bay.

"Obtaining this grant makes it possible for students to actually travel to the tidal water flats and to sail on the AJ Meerwald, a restored oyster sailing boat in the fall," said Mrs. Curcio. "D’Ippolito students have learned much from Marine Biologist Lisa Calvo from the Rutgers Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory."
Ms. Calvo instructed students during hands-on classroom lessons and school-wide assemblies about oyster biology and restoration. She also led students in the bagging of the shells used to make the oyster reef.

"This has truly been a wonderful learning experience for our school,"
said Mrs. Curcio. "D’Ippolito students will have the satisfaction of seeing first hand that a small group of caring children can indeed make a difference by creating, protecting and enhancing an important ecosystem.

This grant funding provides an opportunity for families to experience science first hand. It also provides for supplies and assemblies to embellish the science program at D’Ippolito School."