Editor, Gazette-Journal:

Most people are thinking about Thanksgiving this time of year, but for inquisitive sixth graders at Thomas Hunter Middle School, it is time for Chesapeake Bay Day.

This is when local volunteers become educators. Students are full of questions, excitement and curiosity, teachers are able to watch their sometime-disinterested students bloom with enthusiasm, and the THMS multipurpose room becomes an experiential laboratory.

Chesapeake Bay Day is an annual learning opportunity to discover the maritime heritage of Mathews County and the environmental challenges of the Chesapeake Bay. It’s for all sixth graders, and was funded this year by the Mathews Coalition 4 Kids and Mathews Rotary Club. The volunteers are skilled in their presentations as they return year after year.

Don Good, John Bonner and Wayne Neely of the Mathews Maritime Foundation demonstrated early shipbuilding tools and methods. The students tried their hands at caulking a seam using a caulk...