Last updated: October 29, 2020
Article
Great Egg (GEHWA) Partners Spotlight on Education Initiatives
By Fred Akers and Lynn Maun
The Great Egg Harbor River is fortunate to have many invested and passionate people volunteering their time for education and outreach initiatives. In this GEH Partner spotlight feature, we will be highlighting two people who have gone above and beyond their teaching duties, to pass on a passion for river conservation and stewardship: Jim Thoms and Leslie Lombardo.
Jim Thoms
Jim Thoms, a seventh grade teacher at Fernwood Avenue Middle School in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, has gone the extra nautical mile for over 1,000 students in over 10 years. Mr. Thoms has developed a curriculum that teaches to the river and its ecological and social values and builds upon that learning every year before, during, and after the students cruise the river.
Each year, Mr. Thoms and his students travel aboard the Duke-O-Fluke pontoon boat, sponsored by the Great Egg Harbor River Council, to take science expeditions on the Great Egg Harbor Wild and Scenic River. The Great Egg Harbor (GEH) Watershed Association (GEHWA) discusses the expeditions on their website.These river excursions are, for many kids, the first up-close experience they have with river ecology and water quality. For some it’s the first boat ride, and for some the first time they get to touch a fish. And they are graded for their work on the trip.
At three different stations along the river, a 16-foot otter trawl net is hand deployed to tow the bottom for fish and aquatic life and create a bio-survey of the river. At the start of each tow of the net, the students get to test water samples of the river, just like water scientists do. In teams of 3, they test for different parameters like dissolved oxygen, nitrates, pH, conductivity, salinity and turbidity.
After about a 20-minute tow, the net is pulled in by hand and the contents are put in a tank for inventory, display, and inspection. Each species is held up and its physical features and life history is taught to the students. Touching and good luck kissing sometimes occurs.
During the short transit times in between the stations, the students are provided with binoculars to identify the many different bird species that live on the river and view more distant points of interest.
When the three water stations are tested and sampled, the boat beaches at a sandy island and the students get off the boat and clean the beach and beach comb for other signs of life. The last station is on the beach, where the students gather to discuss the trash they found and the importance of stewardship of the environment.
The goal of this long-term program for the River Council is to instill in these many younger generations the beauty and values of the river so that they will want to help to protect those values as they grow up. And it couldn’t be done without Mr. Thoms.
For more information visit the Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association website where you can view videos of the Eco-River cruise program. Also available is the final report of an Evaluation of Fisheries Sustainability in the Great Egg Harbor Wild and Scenic River Estuary, a 2014 initiative completed with Jim Thoms and his students supported by funding from a National Park Foundation Impact Grant Program.
Leslie Lombardo
The Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association’s (GEHWA) Education and Outreach Programs serve a broad audience that includes both youth and adults. By offering diverse programs, often tailored to the specific needs of a teacher, group or location, we reach thousands of individuals annually as we share information about the unique qualities of the Great Egg Harbor River and its surrounding watershed.
One program that merits special recognition is the St. Vincent de Paul School 5th Grade Puppet Show. In 2008, 5th grade teacher, Leslie Lombardo reached out to GEHWA wanting to know which of our programs would help in her efforts to introduce her students to the unique qualities of the Great Egg Harbor River and Watershed. The programs presented to the students included education on water quality, groundwater, and animals. Then, in and effort to share what they had learned during the year, the students wrote and presented a puppet show to the Pre-K through 4th grade classes at their school in Mays Landing, NJ.
The GEHWA has a diverse collection of animal puppets and a puppet stage. The students were assigned to groups or biomes: forest, river and ocean, and given puppets suited to each biome. They were then tasked with writing a 10 to 15-minute skit using what they had learned regarding threats to the river and watershed and how that threat could be solved. It would be the 1st time that many of the students spoke in front of a large audience, but once they realized that they would be hidden behind a puppet stage they quickly lost their inhibitions. In one short afternoon, the students wrote and practiced their skits. Then, on another day, they presented their skits to the lower grades during 3 separate programs. It was amazing to see how creative they were, and uplifting to share in the giggles of the Pre-K and Kindergarten students when they saw the puppets.
Leslie Lombardo retired from teaching in 2019. She is to be commended for enabling her students to explore their creativity during the 11 years that they wrote and produced an environmental puppet show that reached hundreds of students.
