Last week, our middle school student-athletes embarked on their last field trip of the summer program. The theme of the week was Environmental Awareness, so the group descended on Jones Beach for a day of beach cleanup – followed by lots of running and relaxing surrounded by sand, water and sun!
To cover as much ground as possible when they arrived at the beach, the students split into three groups; one took on the task of picking up litter and trash from the large parking lot, another cleaned up along the bike path, and the third cleared one of the long paths to the beach. They grabbed blue latex gloves and heavy duty trash bags, and headed out with energy and enthusiasm.
Garbage wasn’t all they found, though. Along the path to the beach, the students also encountered sea creatures and their remains… not a huge surprise, but it definitely made the day more interesting!
The parking lot group made a contest of their cleanup, which included some weeding as well. The park official deemed the result a tie… everyone was a winner! (Of course, we knew that already about this crew!)
After the day’s hard work, it was time to relax and unwind with swimming, football, and (why not?!) handstands.
The students also played in the sand, buried each other, and soaked up some sun. Not a bad way to end the summer!
For more pictures, check out the full album below or at our Flickr.
