Bay Grasses in Classes Kicks Off Tenth Season with Teacher
Trainings in January 2007 - The Bay Grasses in Classes (BGIC)
project is a joint partnership with the Maryland Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF).
Since 1998, over 1,404 classes and 36,050 students have been
involved with Bay Grasses in Classes. During this time students
have planted over 2.75 acres of bottom surface in the Bay with
the 475,000 plants grown in their classrooms. In 2004, for the
first time, annual aerial surveys taken by the Virginia
Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) have mapped healthy grass
beds planted by students in the program. Seventy-one returning
teachers as well as 33 new teachers from 83 schools across the
State of Maryland participated in training sessions in January.
During training, teachers were provided with the curriculum
materials and introduced to online resources necessary to
educate their classes on the importance of bay grasses. In
addition, materials necessary to constru