Ocean City High School will use a $5000 National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) grant to develop a new cross-disciplinary curriculum over the next year.
The grant is titled “Building Ecological Solutions to Coast Community Hazards” and is part of a statewide project to design and build infrastructure with improved resilience. The grant comes in response to Hurricane Sandy. It will address relevant coastal problems like storms, increased precipitation and sea level rise.
The New Jersey School Board Association (NJSBA) is working closely with the Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Audobon to make the NFWF grant have a lasting impact by educating future generations on resilience and sustainability. NJSBA Executive Director Lawrence S. Feinsod reached out to Ocean City School District Superintendent Kathleen Taylor in June 2015 with the invitation to participate in the grant. The Ocean City Board of Education passed a resolution to participate in the grant in a meeting that month.
The new curriculum will emphasize real world application of science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM education). Students will learn about sustainable infrastructure in the classroom and visit a municipal site in Strathmere to record data and observations during four field trips planned for the year.
A team of three to five teachers from across the disciplines will be picked to lead students in the new program. These teachers will attend summer training sessions that will focus on curriculum development. A professional development day is planned for February. Teachers will go over the curriculum and visit the Strathmere site.
