Today, Pine Island Cranberry was once again happy to welcome some students from Moorestown Friends School for an overview and tour of our operation.

The group was here as part of an annual week-long “Intensive Learning” experience. As described on their website:

For one week each March, regular classes are suspended for “Intensive Learning,” when Middle and Upper School students and teachers engage in an in-depth study of a specific subject, often involving off-campus research. This long-standing MFS tradition. . .allows teachers and students to break out of the structure of formal class periods and traditional study by subject disciplines (math, English, history) for a time of experiential learning in out-of-classroom settings.

The students in our group have spent the week immersed in “A Unique Pine Barrens Experience”, where they “learn the unique history and culture of the nearby ‘Pinelands,’the first National Reserve created by Congress. The area has also been designated by the United Nations an International Biosphere Reserve, yet the area is little known, even to people who live nearby. We will spend time hiking and exploring the forest as well as learning about the intriguing history of the area, including the Jersey Devil and the indigenous ‘Piney’ population.” As you can see, they’ve had quite a busy week, and we were more than happy to be a part of their extensive program!

First, we subjected them to a PowerPoint presentation (and they were very good sports about it!) with an overview of our tasks throughout the year introduced by managers Mike Haines and Matt Giberson. The students raised some excellent questions; our personal favorite was “Are the Ocean Spray commercials filmed here?” (Answer: Not yet. . .but there’s always next year!) Matt and Mike then took the group out to see an established bed, a young bed, and finally, a quick trip over to part of our 2016 renovation.

As always, it was a pleasure to show people what we do here year-round, especially with such an attentive and interested group! We’re looking forward already to next year and the opportunity to show more of the next generation what we do and who we are.