SPHS Leadership Students Work To Restore Health Of The Chesapeake Bay

The “Oysters Today for a Better Bay” leadership project team, led by Severna Park High School seniors Galen Richardson and Jason Chang, has been working in recent months to raise awareness regarding the dire situation facing the Chesapeake Bay.

The SPHS Leadership Institute is a three-year commitment where accepted students learn how to be effective leaders. As the capstone project for this institute, students must lead a community service project that benefits Severna Park by partnering with a local organization and advocating for an issue facing the community.

The health of the Chesapeake Bay has declined drastically as a result of human activity throughout the watershed. This has notably led to a decrease in the oyster population, which is necessary for filtering the bay’s waters. In recent years, several nonprofit organizations have begun working to restore the oyster population and the health of the bay; however, current efforts are far from sufficient.

Galen and Jason have worked to host several notable events, including a fundraiser night at McGarvey’s, oyster gardening with Arundel Rivers, and an upcoming advocacy event that will take place at Severna Park High School. The project has been a resounding success, with over $300 raised for Oyster Recovery Partnership and awareness of the issue being spread throughout the community.

“When we first started ‘Oysters Today for a Better Bay,’ we weren't sure how successful we were going to be,” Galen said. “Doing an oyster restoration project during the offseason was always going to be a challenge, but we didn't want to let that stop us. We learned the importance of forming connections and expanding our network with people throughout the community. We also learned that plans must be flexible in order to accommodate for unforeseen setbacks, as the end result of our project was much different from what we initially imagined. We couldn't have done this without the skills we learned throughout our years in the SPHS Leadership Institute.”