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Chesapeake Bonds

Eighth Graders travel to the Bay, find crabs and independence
Each year, Trinity’s eighth grade students pack their bags, turn in their phones and head to the Chesapeake Bay. During this trip, they study the ecosystem, practice independence and bond as a class. 

Trip leader and science teacher Ned Trice shares that this trip really helps students understand how ecosystem of the Bay is tied to the rest of Virginia and beyond. In addition to learning about species interdependence and food webs, Trice says they learn about subsistence fishing and crabbing and climate change. Students also have the opportunity to wade through saltwater marshes while learning about their role in preventing erosion. To understand how local organisms find protection in this muddy barrier, students play hide and seek in the marshes. 

“We have a creek [near Trinity] that flows into the James River,” says science teacher Dylan Norvell. “We can physically see the watershed each day and the organisms that live there.” Harder for students is making the connection between that tiny creek and the huge Chesapeake Bay almost 100 miles away. “You can put it in a slideshow, but until a crab reaches around and pinches your finger, it’s hard to have respect for that,” Norvell says. “Until you have set the pots and caught them yourself, it’s hard to appreciate that.”

Another important aspect of this trip is getting the eighth grade class to take care of themselves with limited technology. “Fox Island puts students directly into the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.  Because the house is surrounded by water and has limited electricity and water it allows students to prioritize their time,” Trice says. “Students learn to get by without their parents, without their phones, without electricity, but with each other.”

{ Photos by Allison Minehart }
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Trinity Episcopal School

3850 PITTAWAY DR | RICHMOND VA 23235-1099 | Phone: 804.272.5864 | Fax: 804.272.5865 Email: mail@trinityes.org