Wakeman Boys & Girls Club: Southport and Boys and Girls Club of Ridgefield Summer Outreach

NAMEPA continued our partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America through the Southport and Ridgefield Connecticut Clubhouses. K-4 club members were introduced to the marine environment through NAMEPA’s Who Am I? Necklace Game. Members participated in the Guess Who inspired activity by giving their peers hints such as the species position in the food web, what does it look like, and where you can find it. Grades 5-7 club members discussed the unique feeding patterns in aquatic systems and played NAMEPA’s Food Web Jenga to investigate the niche roles species fill and the detrimental effects when they are removed. Their reactions when their towers toppled over were filled with shouting and surprised faces but provided a strong metaphor for what marine food webs undergo constantly.  

As we continue to educate the public on ways to Save Our Seas, all club members explored the topic of marine debris with an open discussion of how we define it and how trash ultimately reaches our waterways. Members played NAMEPA’s Sink or Float where members discussed how buoyancy influences how debris is carried in the ocean. Together, we discussed ways members can Save Our Seas through marine environment advocacy, education and activation. Their enthusiasm to discuss the marine environment was contagious and we look forward to working with them in the future!