The Journey to Becoming a River-Friendly School
By Ann Marie Smith
A Hamilton Township school’s award-winning program began as a simple grant request.
The New Jersey School Boards Association showcases creative and effective programs in New Jersey schools through its annual School Leader Awards. Entries are judged on the level of innovation and how well the program helps students reach their potential.
Four New Jersey schools earned recognition in the 2024 School Leader Award program. Two exemplary programs and two recognized programs out of 16 entries were selected as the 2024 winners.
One of the exemplary programs, The Journey to Becoming a River-Friendly School had an inspiring transformation from a modest grant request into an extraordinary educational project that has made a lasting impact on the Alexander Elementary School community.
Implementing an Idea
The project started when Elaine Griffin, an Alexander parent, put together a grant for a rain garden at the Alexander Elementary School in the Hamilton Township School District, Mercer County. She was having trouble getting the project started, so two teachers at the Alexander school, Ra Nae Camilleri, special education teacher, and Michelle Goliszewski, kindergarten teacher, reached out to district administrators to get the project moving.
The two teachers knew New Jersey’s K-5 science standards require students to learn about habitats, soil, plants and ecosystems. What better way to learn than outside in a living lab, they thought.
They proposed a garden that would support studying nature and sought a modest grant from the Hamilton Education Foundation. They reached out to the Watershed Institute to assist in devising activities as an educational component. The goal of the program is for students to learn through experiences in a more natural, lower-stress environment. The project ended up morphing into something quite remarkable.
Funding and Assistance
A grant for $939 to create outdoor space for the school of 328 students in grades K-5 led to assistance and resources from the Watershed Institute in Pennington, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and the New Jersey Audubon Society based in Bernardsville. The project exploded from there.
The Rutgers Cooperative Extension delivered more than a garden. Alexander School became the site of a rain garden — the third such garden in the Hamilton Township School District, and the fifth rain garden in Hamilton Township. The Watershed Institute grant allowed for a partnership with the New Jersey Audubon Society and its program called EcoSchools, which then led to the school community seeking environmental certifications from both organizations.
Rutgers designed and installed the rain garden; students in upper grades added plants and kindergarten students laid down rocks. The garden was filled with native New Jersey vegetation, which attracts and feeds pollinator insects, birds and butterflies.
Learning to Conserve
The Watershed Institute assisted with project-based learning about the critical roles of rivers, especially the Delaware River, which supplies drinking water to more than 17 million people, by having students focus on four major components: water quality management; water conservation; wild habitat enhancement; and education and outreach.
The rain garden, located at the edge of the school’s parking lot, addressed the water quality management component by collecting water runoff from the pavement, which in turn seeps into the ground where it is naturally purified. Students created a peer-to-peer water conservation video emphasizing the impact of turning off water until you need it, for example while brushing teeth, and shared it in school and with Alexander families. Students created recycled art by making games using items that couldn’t be recycled and would have ended up in a landfill.
Students designed posters about the River-Friendly project, which were hung in hallways. Families received an announcement asking if they could take a River-Friendly Resident Survey about water usage. Families scoring a “River-Friendly” designation received a sign for their yards. Students hoped 40 families would complete the certification task. In the end, 55 families became certified.
The students’ work paid off. In 2024, the Alexander School was officially named a River-Friendly School by The Watershed Institute – one of 30 New Jersey schools to receive the award since 2010. In September, the New Jersey Audubon Society awarded the school a green flag – the highest certification level for schools taking significant ecological steps in Audubon’s program.
The Board’s Role
The board of education’s role was pivotal. A member of the school board, Susan Ferrara, expressed interest in the project and offered lots of encouragement. She promoted the project during school board meetings and gained approval of the program for implementation. She also promoted the program through various media outlets.
Community Involvement
Parent volunteers were enlisted to help plant the garden. Students made videos and art work to promote a River Friendly Home campaign. Parents were invited to the Watershed Institute during a presentation for kindergartners.
What’s Next
Going forward, the rain garden will continue to help teachers meet science standards – and the space will also provide opportunities for math lessons, reading adventures and writing.
“What started as a creative and exciting outdoor learning space for our students has become a wonderful and award-winning project for the entire Alexander community. I thank the teachers for developing the project and all the students, staff and community who made it a reality for everyone to enjoy,” said Dr. Scott Rocco, HTSD superintendent.
The Legacy
Camilleri and Goliszewski summarize the program as a school rain garden project that blossomed into a commitment to improving the community’s ecology and its knowledge of the human impact on the environment – both positive and negative.
The development of the rain garden, and the school’s River Friendly designation was an exciting and informative project for the entire school and encouraged the entire community to protect the environment.
The NJSBA thanks this year’s School Leader Award judges: Anne H. Gallagher, director, communications department, New Jersey Association of School Administrators; Daniel Higgins, director of strategic communications, New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association; and Vincent DeLucia, director of special projects at the NJSBA.
For more information on The Journey to Becoming a River-Friendly School, contact Joseph Bookholdt, principal, Alexander School at, jbookholdt@htsdnj.org.
Ann Marie Smith is assistant editor and program specialist at NJSBA.