Collier High School and Collier Middle School Students Fight Climate Change with Collier Rain Garden and Caramore Farm

Collier Youth Services, a non-profit organization that empowers at-risk youth to grow toward their potential in an environment of belonging, dignity, and hope, is pleased to announce that its environmental science students are tackling climate change through interactive programs on Collier’s campus. With the guidance of Linda Librizzi, a science teacher at Collier High School and Collier Middle School, Collier students are instituting comprehensive plans to protect the environment, promote locally grown food at Caramore Farm, fight climate change, and engage their local communities.

For several months, students from Collier High School and Collier Middle School have planned, developed, and installed a new rain garden on school property. In order to create a serene place for the entire Collier community to enjoy, students constructed benches and hundreds of perennials. Participants in this effort included members of Collier High School’s Animal Lovers Club, Collier Building Trades Class, and Collier Middle School’s Animal Sciences Club.

The National Wildlife Foundation has supported the Collier Rain Garden through a $14,000 grant. Additionally, the National Wildlife Federation has designated the Collier Rain Garden as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

“For Collier to have developed a Certified Wildlife Habitat is a tremendous accomplishment,” Librizzi emphasizes. “The Collier Rain Garden has water, food, nests, and other places for animals and insects to live. We’re so proud to have created a groundbreaking place of learning, healing, and connection on Collier’s campus.”

Moving forward, Librizzi says Collier students have begun work on Project Polar Bear, which is an international competition that challenges “bright young minds to outsmart CO2.”

On its 260-acre property in the Wickatunk section of Marlboro Township, Collier operates Collier High School, Collier Middle School, Caramore Farm, and Kateri Day Camp. Collier High School (grades 9-12) and Collier Middle School (grades 5-8) are state-approved, private, non-profit schools for students with emotional and behavioral health challenges whose needs cannot be met within public schools. Caramore Farm is one of only three Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs in Monmouth County.

Caramore Farm offers a unique opportunity for Collier to harness the power of the environment as an engaging educational tool. At the farm, Collier students are examining how composting, reducing waste, and growing one’s own food can make a positive impact on climate change.

“Last summer,” Librizzi explains, “many Collier students worked at Caramore Farm planting, thinning, weeding, hoeing, watering, and learning how to grow vegetables. In the fall, they began researching how to reduce pollutants on the farm, increase sustainability, and inspire others to take action on climate change. The Collier Rain Garden has become a natural extension of this work.”

For nearly 90 years, Collier Youth Services has been at the forefront in providing innovative educational, residential, and recreational youth development programs. Collier’s strength-based approach and evidence-based practices provide young people with the social, emotional, and critical thinking skills necessary to succeed in school and in life. At Collier High School and Collier Middle School, academic programs and diverse curricula are taught by Highly Qualified teachers and address the individual educational needs of each student.

Collier’s strong counseling component and diverse range of related services provide the students with the therapeutic support needed to build resiliency and improve social emotional health. Ultimately, Collier prepares graduates for admission into four-year colleges, community colleges, and technical/vocational schools, and full-time employment. Librizzi has seen first-hand how Collier’s science programs are instilling a conservation ethic in future leaders.

“Collier students feel like they can make a difference,” Librizzi shares. “They love animals and are concerned they’re being hurt by things that humans are doing with pollution. I try to encourage students to interact with other people, take care of other living things, and have respect for the Earth.

“All of the environmental efforts at Collier begin with our students,” Librizzi continues. “We believe our students will keep going with their preservation efforts for the rest of their lives and help others to understand the importance of caring for the Earth. Everything in our world is connected.”

As Sister Debbie Drago, Executive Director of Collier Youth Services, states, “I am so proud of our students and their sincere concern for the environment. What they are learning in class has propelled them into action. They are making a difference through their hard work and dedication.

“Collier students are not passive learners,” Drago continues, “but are engaged in doing what they can to make the environment and the human community a kinder and healthier place for all. The quality of our lives depends upon our precious natural resources. Collier students do not take that for granted. They are an inspiration to me.”

Collier Youth Services celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2017. The Collier mission is built on an unwavering belief in the worth and potential of all individuals and their capacity for change.

Collier’s educational, residential, and recreation programs are steeped in the organization’s core values of respect, excellence, a safe and nurturing environment, personal growth, and partnership. In addition to Collier High School, Collier Middle School, Caramore Farm, and Kateri Day Camp in Wickatunk, Collier operates a residential program for young women in two Monmouth County locations: Collier Group Home in Red Bank and Collier House in Keyport.

For more details about Collier Youth Services, please visit www.collieryouthservices.org or call 732-946-4771.

Collier High School students pictured in photo: Gianna C., Sophia L., Rachel E., Gianna B., and Kaytia L. along with educator Linda Librizzi (seated left to right); Megan J. (standing).