From Shore News Today:
Leah Nagle, a 5th grader from Dennis Township, is one of more than 20 young artists whose work will be on display at the Wetlands Institute, 1075 Stone Harbor Blvd. in Middle Township, through Nov. 15.
Fifth grade students, representing each county in the state, worked with the theme Species on the Edge. Leah chose to ‘become’ a bald eagle and in her accompanying essay wrote: “I’m important to the food chain because I keep a balance in the ecosystem. Please do what you can to continue protecting my species.”
The art on display, chosen from more than 2000 entries, will be used on the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey’s annual calendar to call attention in image and words to the urgency of preserving New Jersey’s wildlife and their habitats. While creating their art, the children became temporary wildlife biologists, studying endangered and threatened New Jersey wildlife and writing essays on chosen species. Their artworks, in a broad range of media, feature the threatened or endangered mammals, birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles in their preferred habitat.
Winter hours at the Wetlands are Tuesday to Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; the institute is closed Sunday and Monday from Oct. 16 to May 15.
The 2011 Species on the Edge calendars are available online at conservewildlifenj.org. Created in 1998, the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ protects and preserves rare and imperiled species of wildlife that live, breed, and migrate through our state by restoring habitat, managing species, educating and engaging citizens, and conducting research on New Jersey’s rarest wildlife residents.
Original article