Setauket Students Save a Seal

Setauket Elementary School students got a firsthand lesson in marine science through a service-learning project. With the assistance of science teacher Janet Guglielmo, kindergarten students adopted a grey seal pup named Meerkat.

Meerkat was found injured in Montauk, and for the past few months, he was nursed back to health at the New York Rescue Marine Center in Riverhead. The kindergarten students raised nearly $600 in addition to the $125 adoption fee by completing acts of kindness and chores at home. The funds helped with food, medication and treatment expenses while Meerkat was staying at the NYRMC facility.

In the classroom, students took part in interdisciplinary projects to learn about seals. They completed art projects, learned about marine habitats and took turns bringing a Meerkat stuffed animal home to write about their adventures together.

As a culmination of the project, kindergartners and their families were invited to Tiana Beach in Hampton Bays on June 19 to watch Meerkat be set free back into the wild. A large crowd gathered to watch Meerkat and three other seals be released – an incredibly heartwarming end to the service-learning project.

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