Watching their project develop

Woodmere Middle School students formally dedicated the Robert H. Faller Environmental Pond on May 16. The students built the pond in October.

The Robert Faller Foundation, a charity created in memory of the Woodmere Middle School student who was killed in a helicopter crash in 1994, funded the 10 by 15 foot pond project constructed by sixth grade students.

Jeffery Ingrassia, owner of AquaFX by Island Land Care, a landscaping company based out of Mt. Sinai, helped the students design and build the aquatic ecosystem for the school. He said students would clean it, maintain it, watch the fish grow and check the temperature.

The pond will help meet academic, developmental and social/emotional needs of students during the coming years, as they are able to watch the pond develop into a naturally balanced aquatic system, school officials said.