Fourth grade students at Glenallan Elementary School will break ground on a wetlands ecology project at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 2, at the school. At the ceremony, officials from the Chesapeake Bay Trust will present a $9000 check to support the project -- the largest grant given to an elementary school by the foundation.

The wetlands project was initiated by fourth grade teacher Krisit Cameron, who worked to obtain the grant and will help students excavate and re-plant an eroded area behind the school which was contributing excessive storm water run-off into a tributary to the Chesapeake Bay. The wetlands that the students will build is designed to slow down and absorb run-off that is contributing to the pollution of the Bay.

The project activities will be coordinated with the students' study of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay, as well as a science unit on ecosystems. Students also will participate in a Living Classroom boat trip on the Chesapeake Bay that will further their knowledge of the watershed area.