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Pinelands Green Team outlines $1.39M bog-restoration plan and hands-on student projects
Summary
Teacher-led Green Team detailed curriculum expansion, community partnerships and multiple grants — including a $1.39 million Phase 1 restoration award — and described internships, water monitoring, a Barnegat Blitz cleanup (about 275 lbs. of trash this year) and permitting timelines before field work can begin.
Mr. Ardwin, the teacher leading Pinelands Regional School District’s Green Team, told the board the program has grown since 2022 into a hands-on environmental curriculum that pairs students with local scientists and agencies to study the Pine Barrens and Barnegat Bay.
“Pinelands has always done a great job infusing local ecology into the curriculum,” Mr. Ardwin said, describing stewardship, discovery and communication as the program’s core goals. He listed in-class and field activities — water testing, eel monitoring, maple-syrup production, iNaturalist species mapping and a community ‘Barnegat Blitz’ cleanup — and said the cleanup this year removed roughly 275 pounds of debris compared with thousands of pounds in early years.
The presentation included several grant announcements. Mr. Ardwin said the district has been awarded a $1.39 million grant to begin phase one of a bog restoration plan focused on improving an existing detention basin behind the high school, adding planted pooling areas and paths designed to filter runoff before it reaches Gifford's Mill stream. He also described a $90,000 climate-change grant used for a community garden and programming, a Xerces Society grant for a pollinator garden at the junior high, and a $45,000 pre-award aimed at climate-literacy after-school and summer programs.
Mr. Ardwin cautioned that restoration work will depend on permitting, which he said could take “anywhere from 3 months to 36 months,” and that contractors and project managers are already lined up to involve students when permits clear. He said the district is working with Rutgers graduate students and outside partners on design and phased implementation.
Peyton Armuller, a senior involved with the Barnegat Bay class, described student testing and monitoring activities: “We go out on stewardship days, collect water samples and test for a number of indicators, and we work with watershed ambassadors to interpret aquatic insect results.” Peyton also noted student internships and presentations that connect learners with Rutgers, Stockton and environmental partners.
The presentation emphasized the educational and community benefits of on-site restoration: expanded outdoor classrooms, internships, curricular continuity from grades 7–12 and opportunities for the public to engage with science stations the district plans to install around campus.
Board members and community attendees applauded the program and the grant announcements. The district will publish scheduling and permitting updates on the Pinelands website as projects progress.
