Oyster Bay Rotary came through recently to help students from Mill Neck Manor learn at the WaterFront Center in Oyster Bay. High school students at Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf learned a great deal as they worked on earth science firsthand this year. Teaming up with the Waterfront Center in Oyster Bay for a special program, students are putting the science curriculum into action by examining, observing and dissecting.

The program, which began early in the school year, involves seventh through 12th graders in the school's academic program. It centers around a series of trips the students and their instructors, teacher Gabrielle Sheppard and teacher assistant Christine DiBenedetto, have taken throughout the year.

In September, the students first took a trip to the waterfront. They collected samples of the water and tested its salinity and temperature, right on the beach. They also examined the water for organisms, identifying them when they could. Higher up the beach in the sandy areas, Ms. Sheppard, Ms. DiBenedetto and the class looked for evidence of organisms and examined the plants that lived in sand. The class also discussed the differences between the plants that live in the sand versus those found in water.

A month later, the group took a two-hour tour on the Christeen, an oyster sloop, the Waterfront's own gaff sloop ship. Aboard the ship, the students compared the bay and ocean water and the sea life in each. They measured the salinity of the water further from shore and compared the results to those they found at the water's edge, as well as the difference between the water at the surface of the bay and water found below the surface. The students also caught plankton, brought them back to the Mill Neck Manor science lab and examined them under the school's new digital microscopes.

On these trips, the students learned about the area's history, including how it was named and who founded it. According to Amy Cross, education director for the Waterfront Center, Oyster Bay got its name in 1615 because of the abundance of shellfish found by a Dutch explorer. Oysters are still abundant in the area because of the excellent water quality present. Students also learned about Oyster Bay's presence in literature, including in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Although the students were thoroughly enjoying the program's trips, lack of funding caused the cancellation of a few trips after October. In April, however, Mill Neck Manor learned that the Oyster Bay Rotary would provide $3,000 in much-needed funding for the program. This money will be used directly for the continuation of the program, Mill Neck's Associate Principal for Curriculum Kathleen Kerzner said, and specifically, it will allow for more students to take part in this wonderful program.

"Next year, it is Gabrielle's hope to have all of the Mill Neck Manor students involved in activities and trips related to the Waterfront." Since the program began, Ms. Sheppard said she has seen a marked rise in her students' interest in science. A good side effect of the program, she added, is that it has helped them to make correlations to other aspects of their education. "The students, through their own interactions, develop ideas, concepts and understanding about how the world is interconnected," Ms. Sheppard observed. "They love to explain to me how what they are doing is connected to something else they learned."

Due to the generosity of the Oyster Bay Rotary, Ms. Sheppard and her students were recently able to visit the Frank M. Flower & Sons Oyster Hatchery in Bayville. On this trip, the Waterfront Center's Amy Cross gave the seventh grade students a tour of hatchery and also assisted them in dissecting an oyster. Two more trips are also planned for the remainder of the school year. While on their second voyage aboard the Christeen, students will discuss buoyancy, currents, wind and weather, and they will visit the pond of a resident in Oyster Bay, where they will study pond life and observe the living organisms present.

Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf is part of the Mill Neck Family of Organizations, a not-for-profit group dedicated to the serving deaf and hard of hearing individuals though educational, vocational and spiritual programs and services. For more information about any of its programs, please call (516) 922-4100 or visit www.millneck.org.