plastic wrap

Around the world in recyclable boats

Students sail bay in vessels made from old bottles

by Terry Gauthier Muessig

Boat Day 2011 — Annaliese Heidelberger, 7, of Middletown, waves her hands as Kylee Wood, 12, of Atlantic Highlands, behind, looks on. The New School of Monmouth County, holds its 18th Annual Boat Day Event at the Spy House Beach in Port Monmouth, Tuesday, September 27, 2011. Students from the school create the boats from recycled materials then put them to the test as they set sail on Raritan Bay with the help of teachers and parents.

About 80 people witnessed hundreds of plastic bottles and milk cartons floating in the Raritan Bay near the shoreline on Tuesday afternoon.

The culprits who put the recyclables in the bay near the Bayshore Waterfront Park area in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown also were at the scene. They were students of The New School of Monmouth County in Holmdel participating in the school’s “Around the World”-themed boat day. The school has conducted the program with a different theme for nearly 20 years.

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Holmdel students get a chance to float their stuff at Waterfront Park

by Jennifer Bradshaw

In a pinch, empty orange juice cartons and Seltzer bottles will make a seaworthy vessel.

On Friday, the students of the New School in Holmdel took to the water at Bayshore Waterfront Park in Port Monmouth for their annual “Boat Day.”

The students tested out six boats they built themselves out of the bottles and cartons, milk jugs, duct tape and cardboard.

The event is a tradition for the K-8 private alternative school, going on for nearly 20 years.

Students build boats in different themes each year and take them into the water to ultimately see if their designs are viable.

Rebekah Chilvers, a teacher at the school said the year’s academic theme was “Music and Movement,” resulting in boats that looked like a keyboard, a stage, a guitar and the “Jackson Squid,” as in the late pop singer Michael Jackson.

The bay didn’t have a wave in sight to the delight of the group, who were able to take their boats far out into the water with the help of parent volunteers.

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APP.com / 9.28.11

Around the world in recyclable boats

APP.com / 9.24.10

Holmdel students get a chance to float their stuff at Waterfront Park