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EYC Foundation Oyster Kids Program

(From an article by The Capital reporter, Pam Wood, May 20, 2008.)

“On a rainy, chilly day in October, (students from Hillsmere Elementary) got their first messy hands-on experience with oyster shells that had been covered in baby oysters, or “spat” by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

They measured the spat and tested various water quality indicators. The oysters were then lowered in cages off the yacht club docks.

Throughout the year, the kids learned about oysters in the classroom and some took turns visiting the yacht club to clean, measure, and inspect their oysters. Then yesterday, the students got a quick refresher in water quality and measuring oysters before heading out on the water with volunteer captains. This was the eighth year for the yacht club foundation’s Oyster Kids Program.

Keilara Jones and Paula Lowe, both 11, explained how oysters reproduce by shooting tons of tiny sperm and eggs into the water.

Monica Park, 11, said she thought it was important to help the bay by replacing some of the filter-feeding oysters that have been lost over the years.

... Mrs. Kirchner said she never ceases to be amazed at how few of her students have had boating experience before, even though the school is on a peninsula bounded by water. She said she hopes they appreciate “just the perspective they get from the water, looking back at Annapolis where they live.”