YEAR 2005 - CRP Project #4004 (Gulf of Mexico)
Project #4004
Lafayette Middle School E-Watchers
Peveto Beach, Louisiana

Grant funds will pay for this on-campus greenhouse to be renovated. Students will use it to grow wetland plants for marine restoration.
Project name: Lafayette Middle School E-Watchers (#4004)
Project status: Complete
Grant Administrator: Gulf of Mexico Foundation (for NOAA)
Grantee: Lafayette Middle School
Project location: Lafayette, Louisiana
Grant period: Jan 1, 2021 to Dec 31, 2020
Grant amount: $70,000
Land Ownership: Public
Types of Habitat and Lat/Long:
Brackish marsh (Bayside of Fourchon Beach 90,10,11.1;29,6,50.7),
Barrier island (Fifi Island 89,59,21.3;29,15,23.2;
La. Hwy.1 near Fourchon north site- 90,8,43.3; 29,10,14.2;
and south site 90,11,43.6; 29,10,35.4),
Dune restoration (Constance Beach 29*,45,39; 93*, 34,6
and Rutherford beach 29*,46,12; 93*,10,38);
Half-acre wetland (Lafayette Middle School - 91*,1,11; 30*,13,30)
Project leader: Charni Dodson
107 Renel Drive
Breaux Bridge, LA 70517
(337) 896-7225 phone
(337) 235-4971 fax

Fifi Island, just off Grand Isle, Louisiana, is where the students will
plant the mangroves they grow in the school greenhouse.
Species Benefiting From Restoration:
Blue crab Callinectes sapidus
Brown shrimp Penaeus aztecus
White shrimp Penaeus vannamei
Red drum Sciaenops ocellatus
Speckled trout Salvelinus frontinalis
Paddlefish Polyodon spatula
Spartina Spartina alternaflora
Black mangrove Avicennia germinans
Seashore panicum Panisum virgatum
Seashore paspalum Paspalum vaginatum
Project Description:
This project has restoration and educational components. We plan to restore a donated green house and build a canyard to raise plants
for year-round restoration projects where students harvest seeds, raise plants, and return plants to designated sites.
Project Objectives:
- Raise Spartina alterniflora to be replanted in designated areas
- Collect, germinate, and replant black mangrove to reestablish maritime ridge and add vegetation to the area that will encourage migrating
species to nest; the black mangrove also provides habitat for larval forms of marine life such as shrimp, crab, speckle trout and other fin fish
- Grow submerged aquatic grasses for replanting
- Hatch and raise paddle fish to be returned to the Atchafalaya basin
Community Involvement and Education:
- NWRC are helping students to plan the building of the
half-acre campus wetland, and educating students on native wetland plants verses intrusive plants and animals.
- LADWF are educating students on the raising of native paddlefish and donation of fish for students to raise and return to the wild.
- ULL School of Architecture students are helping students design the outdoor classroom area of the campus wetland.
- Americore volunteers will be helping to construct the wetland, the restoration of the greenhouse, and the outdoor classroom area.
- Home Depot employees will be helping with all phases of the construction.
- Parents and community volunteers will be helping the Americore volunteers in the above activities. They will also be involved in
the harvesting, planting, and transplanting of plants at various restoration cites.
This project is intended to be part of a larger regional effort to restore Louisianas wetlands. We have listed anticipated cites that we
will be working with. When the life of the grant is over, we plan to continue supporting coastal restoration by using the
facilities on our campus that the grant monies helped us build to continue raising and supplying plants to wetland areas in need.
The children at our school will be able to study the benefits of past student efforts 5 to 10 years from now.
April 22, 2021 -
Rick Poulan, principal of Lafayette Middle School, along with the middle school science program created a wetlands education initiative. They have committed a tremendous amount of time and energy to engage the community, construct a wetland and
greenhouse on school property, and develop curriculum to broaden their class' life experience.
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PROJECT PHOTOS
Click on photo to enlarge

Student volunteers help clean out the inside of the
greenhouse.

Boat used to transport students.

Students collect mangrove seeds from area wetland

Group of student volunteers

Students grow the mangrove seeds in the classroom to
later replant in the wild.

Students plant seedlings that they grew.

Students collect mangrove seeds from area wetland
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PROJECT PARTNERS
NOAA Restoration Center
Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Service Learning Grant (Louisiana Lt. Governors Office)
National Wetland Research Center (NWRC)
LA Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Booker Fowler Hatchery
University of New Orleans (UNO)
Louisiana Sea Grant
Lafayette & St. Martin Soil & Water Conservation District
University of Louisiana, Lafayette Campus School of Architecture
Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection & Restoration Act Outreach Committee
State Farm Insurance Company (Morris Anderson)
Louisiana State University Agriculture Center
Louisiana Technical College Lafayette Campus (LTC-LC)
Home Depot
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