Rohan Naik Photo
Campers dig for shells in the Harbor.
On her first day of camp, 9‑year old Anaya Brianna Rice was apprehensive; the sun blazing hot, and the New Haven Harbor smelled.
Two hours later, however, Rice was already making plans to come back to the waterfront after camp.
Rice is participating a an afternoon summer camp run during afternoons this summer by the New Haven Land Trust, Schooner, Inc. and the Boys and Girls Club.
Schooner funds the camp, which takes place on The Land Trust’s Long Wharf Nature Preserve. The Boys & Girls Club sends the kids, many of whom are low income to partake in the program. Camp participants, who are between the ages of 6 and 10, learn about marine biology, the coastal ecosystem, and environmental sustainability.
“I love seeing all these non-profits work together on something instead of being territorial about kids and resources,” Camp Program Director Sarah Morrison said. “Let’s use our strengths to create a great program.”
On Tuesday, the kids spent the first part of the day in the Sound School Regional Vocational Aquaculture School. There, they placed a tracking tag on a horseshoe crab and then released it back into the water.
Through the activity, the kids learned about the importance of monitoring maritime population and many saw a horseshoe crab for the first time.
The camp sets aside time each day for the kids to explore, during which they have time to observe the tide level and the variety of wildlife.
Tiana Fitzgerald, who is 9 years old, found mussels in the sand. She said that “exploring time” was her favorite part of the day, as it allows her to make discoveries on her own.
Rebuilding
Rohan Naik Photo
Camper Rice finds an oyster shell.
For Schooner, the summer camp is a welcome return. The organization had previously run a camp through the summer of 2014, but it soon became mired an internal board fight that effectively shut down the organization. For the last year, however, Schooner’s Board of Directors has been working to rebuild the organization and return to its mission of New Haven residents to the Long Island Sound and its surrounding watersheds.
Schooner board President Kyle Pedersen noted that Schooner was interested in rebuilding its programming for young people.
“We weren’t in the position to offer a full-fledged summer camp program,” he said. “We didn’t have the resources, so it prompted some soul-searching, questioning and planning.”
With support from the University of New Haven, Schooner conducted a strategic planning effort to learn of potential partners and look at ways it could promote environmental education and awareness in New Haven.
Justin Elicker, executive director of The Land Trust and a member of the strategic planning team, suggested a joint effort with Schooner, and conversations between the two organizations began in the fall of 2015. The Land Trust operates six nature preserves and around fifty community gardens in the city and has a focus on increasing youth involvement in the environmental movement.
For Elicker, the partnership was a no-brainer.
“Unlike a lot of suburban land trusts whose goal is to keep people off the land and stop development, we believe that because we’re close to urban center our goal should be to bring people on the land,” he said. “The program is great because of that.”
Pedersen noted that the two groups had more intentional conversations in the winter. He added that the turning point was the connection forged with the Boys & Girls Club, which made the camp seem “actually doable.” Schooner and the Land Trust would be able to provide enrichment and support to a camp that already existed, rather than create an entirely new one.
The camp, which runs from July 5‑Aug. 11, contains different weekly themes with an emphasis on stewardship; thus far campers have covered habitats, pollution and ecosystems. Activities have included a trash cleanup, the aforementioned tagging and release of a horseshoe crab, and the creation of a water filtration system.
“All the kids have really taken to it,” Morrison said. “Young people love the chance to explore outside. With restrictions at school, they don’t really get to play in the dirt anymore. And you know, there’s a lot of mud out here.”
For 9‑year old Rice, the mud has been an enjoyable welcome to the New Haven Harbor. Having spent little prior time in the outdoors, she said her new knowledge about wildlife makes her excited to return to the Nature Preserve in the future.
“There’s so much I never knew,” she said. “If you keep digging and digging, you might just discover something.”
This is wonderful news! Schooner, Inc. opened my mind to the wonder of our local marine environment in the 1970's and 1980's. We look forward to supporting their rebirth and expansion. Our harbor and shorelines are fascinating treasures and our children love to learn there!