Extra curricular

The ‘25-’26 school year is just around the corner! The WT School Club, BioKids for 2nd-4th graders will open enrollment with the school’s club coordinator in mid-Sept. For 4H enrollment in October, go to the MV Ag Society’s website in September for 4H Seashore Explorers info. The ‘24-’25 school year clubs were great fun where students conducted science experiments, learned how to shuck, and shared local seafood meals with other families. This year’s clubs and educational activities are being partially funded by a grant from the Slough Farm Foundation, which is allowing us to continue collaborating with other organizations like Trustee’s The Farm Institute to involve youth in our local seafood.

In spring 2023, MVSG started an afterschool club at the West Tisbury School called BioKids for K-2 students. In fall 2023, a 4-H club called Seashore Explorers for the same age group was added in collaboration with the MV Ag Society. The aim of these clubs is to inspire young scientists with simple experiments, expose them to aquatic life, and teach them how to be better stewards of our marine environments. We also work with scouts and other organizations & clubs.

Classroom visits & shoreside tours

This year, MVSG continues to work with schools, libraries, and camps. If you are interested in a classroom visit or a fieldtrip to one of our hatcheries, please reach out to our Education Manager.

In 2023, MVSG rekindled a focus on education, reaching over 700 students Pre K- Grade 12 to host demonstrations and share facts about water quality, shellfish benefits, salt marsh ecosystems, and the world of science.

After a 20 year hiatus, we started hosting school groups at the John T. Hughes Research Station to build shoreside aquariums, peek inside our greenhouse hatchery & walk the Brush Pond Marsh with our Marine Biologists. This set up has been bringing kids back into the hatchery since spring of 2023. Each year we are adding new stations like an accessible touch tank and activity center in 2025.

Community outreach

2024-2025 outreach was supported with funding from NOAA’s eeBLUE Aquaculture Literacy Program with a focus on inspiring locals and visitors to get out onto the ponds, explore to the benefits of aquaculture, and participate in volunteer science opportunities. Over the course of 62 recurring programs, lessons and larger events, we engaged 2,659 people of all ages about the many facets of aquaculture — public and private, hatchery and field-based. Occurring on the eve of our 50th year, this grant also enabled MVSG to make a number of documentary-style shorts capturing our impact on and around Martha’s Vineyard. They will be available from our website and at programs in the near future.

With original funding from the Edey Foundation in 2023 to build education toolkits, MVSG has been able to diversify how we represent ourselves in the community. We work with individuals, other conservation organizations, community members & libraries to teach people how to shuck, how to clam, how to restore eelgrass, and why we work so hard to “bivalvify” the waters around Martha’s Vineyard.