APEX Students Get Hands-On Learning Experience Over Summer Break

Over the summer, fourth grade APEX students at McKinley Elementary School had the chance to take their school year learnings to the shores of New Jersey thanks to the outside-of-the-box thinking of McKinley Elementary School APEX teacher, Ms. Jennifer Tanay.

Last fall, Ms. Tanay was brainstorming ways to make virtual instruction more enjoyable for her fourth grade APEX students, and–inspired by a student’s personal involvement with a Diamondback Terrapin project–the class embarked on a months-long research project about the turtle species.

The discussion began with why the students should even care about a species that lives more than 60 miles away, which led to the learning that the terrapin’s presence–or lack thereof–impacts the broader ecosystem beyond just where they nest.

In February, the class welcomed community member and former ASD parent, Ms. Kathy Lacey, as a virtual guest to talk about terrapins and the grassroots movement she founded on Long Beach Island (LBI), New Jersey, called The Terrapin Nesting Project, aimed at repopulating the species of turtle. In addition to their virtual guest, one student used a PowerPoint presentation to provide background information to their peers, and some students got creative with the hybrid format of instruction by making podcasts with the information they researched.  

Once school was out for the summer, however, several students opted to continue learning about the Diamondback Terrapin at the Jersey Shore. In early July, the APEX students and their parents, as well as Ms. Tanay, met at a nesting site on LBI to see firsthand how the site is managed. Once there, they were able to experience the special opportunity of watching a female terrapin lay eggs right in front of them! A group even returned to the same spot in August to release the new hatchlings into the bay.

To learn more about the movement to repopulate the Diamondback Terrapin in LBI, visit www.terrapinnestingproject.org.