Congratulations to Poinciana's 5th grade environmental stewards for installing our first Ocean Guardian School District Rainwater Filtration Garden to help remove pollutants from our stormwater runoff as they protect the species in our seagrass beds, saltwater marshes, and red mangroves! The Poinciana Pelicans worked hard on Tuesday, March 11th, to dig holes and plant each plant. The Ocean Guardian School District is a three-year initiative to incorporate a district-wide ocean conservation action plan, through a grant from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) , the United Way of Collier and the Keys (UWCK), and the National Marine Sanctuary. A special thank you to Marley Roberts (5th grader) who designed the garden, KWPD who came to help the students, teachers Melissa Byrne and Amy Harper, principal Tara Whitehead, Channing Gaufillet from UWCK, Christina McPherson (MCSD Executive Director of Student Services), Yvette Talbott (Bd. of Ed, District 2), Donna Tedesco (MCSD STEM Coordinator), Steve and Sage at Mama's Garden Centerfor sourcing the native plants through Michaela at Lukas Nursery & Butterfly Encounter in Orlando. We could not have done this without our community partners: UWCK, NOAA, National Marine Sanctuaries, The Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Gardens, Rooted Key West and Mama's Garden Center.
