Published in the Courier News on November 17, 2004

ATLANTIC CITY -- A Bridgewater school that created a nature preserve and a grassroots group in Somerset, Hunterdon and Mercer counties that is working to protect the Sourlands region have received state awards for their efforts.

Fourth- and fifth-grade students, staff and parents at the Hillside Intermediate School in Bridgewater were awarded the Environmental Education award for creating a nature preserve out of six acres on school grounds, which they maintain year-round.

"It's a great tribute to the club, all the volunteers and the faculty," said Lisa Giranda, Bridgewater-Raritan school board president. "It is amazing when you see the grade level that does it."

The fifth annual awards were presented Tuesday at the New Jersey League of Municipalities Convention in Atlantic City by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The school was honored for its Environmental Leaders and Protectors program, which performed activities related to habitat loss. The projects included reforestation, establishing a meadow for wildlife, a freshwater marsh and holding an annual daylong environmental festival in March.

"I toured it in the winter and even then, it was amazing to see what they did for wildlife at that time of year," Giranda said. "It is an absolute phenomenon. They're an outstanding group of students and teachers that allowed it to take place."

See: Roots & Shoots at the Hillside School