News and Events : News 05-06

NMH Visit To Help Gill Elementary 6th-graders Certify Vernal Pool

GILL, MA—Sixth-graders from Gill Elementary School will pay a visit to Northfield Mount Hermon School the morning of April 12 to explore the vernal pools that surround Shadow Lake. Their purpose: to learn more about the springtime breeding grounds of several endangered species so they can register with the state a vernal pool behind their school.

Massachusetts residents can certify a vernal pool with the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, thus affording it protection under the state’s Wetlands Protection Act. Joanne Rabideau’s class has been monitoring its own vernal pool, noting its temperature and size, making drawings, and taking photographs.

Rabideau’s students are studying the Connecticut River watershed as their science curriculum and are excited about coming face to face with vernal pools’ illustrious residents, she said. “We’re going to catch some critters,” said Rabideau. “We’re going to look for wood frogs, salamanders and fairy shrimp.”

The Gill students will visit Wednesday April 12 from 9 to 11 am. Reporters can meet children at Shadow Lake at 9 am, or call Kate Snyder (498-3357) to arrange finding the kids later in the morning.

Northfield Mount Hermon is an independent coeducational boarding and day high school in Gill, MA.

CONTACT: Kate Snyder, 413-498-3357, ksnyder@nmhschool.org

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