News Post
Science Club Plants Trees for Coastal Roots
Members of the St. Joseph’s Academy Science Club planted trees in Fontainebleau State Park in Covington on January 25. The planting was part of LSU’s Coastal Roots program.
SJA students grew nearly 200 Nuttall Oak and Willow Oak seedlings in the school’s can yard, then transported them to the park for planting.
SJA was the pilot program for Coastal Roots, which began in 2000 under the direction of former SJA science teacher Linda Messina and LSU Professor Dr. Pam Blanchard. Today, 55 schools across 21 Louisiana parishes participate in the program. Since the program’s beginnings, nearly 185,000 seedlings have been planted along the Louisiana coast to help restore the fragile habitat.
Science teacher and Science Club moderator Jonathan Durocher accompanied the students, along with former teacher and SJA graduate Alexis Stein Ringswald ’11.
Senior Elena Kelly, co-president of the Science Club, said she enjoyed learning about SJA’s formative role in the creation of the Coastal Roots program. She said it was impactful to learn about the destruction to Fontainebleau caused by Hurricane Katrina. “I love how Coastal Roots gives kids our age the ability to do something concrete and not just talk about ways to help save the coast,” she said. “It’s great to know that we are still making a difference with our planting. The members of my club are some of the sweetest, truest girls and have made my day more times than I can count with their dedication and passion for saving the coast. I was proud and excited when I saw how our hard work paid off. Our girls have taken care of the trees and the can yard ever since we planted the seedlings at the beginning of last year, and we ended up planting 198 trees.”
Junior Jacelyn Keller said she learned that pre-Katrina, trees were so dense at Fontainebleau State Park that in certain areas, you couldn’t look up and see the sky. “That is no longer the case because so many trees have been lost,” she said. “It was really eye-opening to learn about the damage to our coast, mainly caused by storms, and the need for more trees to keep the soil from eroding. By planting native trees in the area, it helps combat coastal erosion and provides great ecological benefits for the animals living there. I’m so happy that I was fortunate enough to be a part of this amazing project. From planting the seeds at school, watching them grow and finally being able to plant them, it was a very rewarding experience.”
Senior Emma Hulse said it was nice to be able to plant seedlings after several years of the project being sidelined by the pandemic. “I loved being able to work as part of a team with Science Club, planting trees together and enjoying the beautiful scenery of Fontainebleau State Park,” she said. “One of the most important parts of being stewards in our community is taking care of our Louisiana coast. Due to coastal erosion, Louisiana loses miles of land each year. However, we can prevent coastal erosion by planting trees, whose roots stabilize the ground and keep the soil together, protecting our wetlands.”
Mindy Brodhead Averitt
Communications Director
Photos courtesy of Jacelyn Keller