The Summer Internship Program is sponsored by the New Canaan Racquet Club
A New Canaan High School student is spending part of her summer raising money to help more students gain access to hands-on education about the Long Island Sound.
L-R: Sofia Brooks and Victoria Tremblay, rising NCHS seniors.
Sofia Brooks, a rising senior at NCHS, launched a fundraiser Aug. 1 to benefit SoundWaters, a Stamford-based nonprofit focused on protecting the Long Island Sound through environmental education and community programs. Brooks has set a goal of raising $5,000 by Aug. 31.
Brooks said her connection to SoundWaters began nearly two years ago, when she participated in two of the organization’s SoundWaters Research Intensives programs.
The two-week programs, held at SoundWaters’ Harbor Center, give high school students the opportunity to conduct hands-on marine research using professional-grade laboratory equipment, she said.
Students work with microscopes, computers, marine tanks and oyster incubators while learning about topics including water quality and animal populations.
“It was really interesting,” Brooks said. “I got to meet a lot of really interesting people, so that kind of just opened doors for me, also about my future career path.”
Her experience also showed Brooks how much financial assistance can matter in making those opportunities available to students.
She said some of the friends she met through the program received financial aid through SoundWaters scholarships. That inspired her to launch her own fundraiser so more students can have similar experiences regardless of their financial circumstances.
“I kind of want to have everyone be able to have the same kinds of opportunities that I did,” Brooks said.
Brooks said she came up with the $5,000 goal after looking at previous student-led fundraisers and other fundraising efforts benefiting SoundWaters. She acknowledged that raising the money in a single month is ambitious, but said she believes the New Canaan community can help her get close to the goal.
The fundraiser is also part of a broader effort by Brooks to get other New Canaan students interested in the Long Island Sound.
Although New Canaan is not directly on the coast, Brooks said she believes residents should understand how their community affects the Sound and how the health of the Sound affects the region.
“I didn’t really learn much about the Long Island Sound in school,” Brooks said.
Brooks later started a club at New Canaan High School called SALT CT, which stands for Sound Action for Local Teens. She said she realized that other students in New Canaan were interested in the Long Island Sound but did not necessarily have an easy way to learn more about it or get involved.
Through the club and her fundraiser, Brooks hopes to help change that.
“I think people kind of need to be a little bit more aware of what the impacts of their actions are on the Sound and all the animals and populations in the Sound,” she said.
The fundraiser runs through Aug. 31, with donations made through Brooks’ GiveSmart fundraising page going directly to SoundWaters. (More information about the fundraiser and donations is available at swsofia.givesmart.com.)
For Brooks, the fundraiser is ultimately about making the type of experience she had through SoundWaters available to more young people.
“I started this fundraiser kind of to make sure that people are aware of SoundWaters and aware of Long Island Sound,” Brooks said, “and for every student to have, the same access to those experiences.”