On a quiet and wet Thursday morning a group of 40 teenagers armed with sharp gardening implements descended on the Royal Naval Cemetery in Dockyard.

They were there to help the Bermuda National Trust wage war on invasive plant species and weeds that were threatening some of the 200 graves in the historic cemetery.

They were students from the Bermuda High School for Girls in the first year of the school's International Baccalaureate (IB) programme.

"When I go to schools, kids ask me all the time, 'why do we need open space anyway'," said David Outerbridge, Bermuda National Trust Conservation Officer. "And they really mean it."

Mr. Outerbridge hopes that collaborations like this one with different schools around the Island will help children gain a greater appreciation of Bermuda's open spaces, parks, nature reserves and history.

Mr. Outerbridge said Wedco did a great job of maintaining the graveyard, but a little extra TLC didn't hurt.

On this day, the students were tearing and chopping out weeds and plants around the graves, and putting down a layer of gravel meant to slow down weed growth.

The Royal Gazette spoke to several students who were hacking away at plants threatening to swallow up a headstone. Few of them had ever visited the Royal Naval Cemetery, also known as The Glade.

Amber Farrington, 16, said: "I always thought it was a bit scary in passing." And Nathaniel Sussman, 16, said he had been to the graveyard once, as part of a clean-up project in the cemetery and neighbouring beach. "I never really took a close look," he said. "I was surprised at how many kids are buried in the graveyard."

Kira Kelly, 16, said she had never done anything like the project before. "It has been great so far," she said.

Chelsea Somner, 16, said after working in the graveyard, she might be induced to come back and take a look around again, another day.

And that is exactly what Mr. Outerbridge and the Bermuda National Trust is hoping for. "I hope they will enjoy the work, and get a good understanding of Bermuda history," he said. "Hopefully, down the years after they graduate they might come back here."

The plan is for IB students to help the Bermuda National Trust at least once every semester.

BHS IB teacher Christine Khoo said the project was designed to help the students fulfill their community service hours. "Throughout the year they will be coming back," Ms Khoo said. "They will have a good connection with Bermuda's history."

And the Royal Naval Cemetery is a good place to learn about Bermuda's history as the people in it transect a wide span of time.

The land for the cemetery was consecrated in 1812 and the earliest readable memorial in the graveyard is to Sgt. John Kitcherer, late Royal Marines, who died in May 1816.

The area was used for burial right up until The Second World War. It was open for burial to all until 1849, when they excluded convicts.

Many of the people there died in the numerous yellow fever epidemics that Bermuda suffered through. There are also many casualties from various wars and altogether there are approximately 200 people buried there.

The work on the graveyard doesn't end with the maintenance day. Students are expected to pick a grave and research ten facts on the person in it.

"We are hoping to compile a book at the end of the year," said Ms Khoo. "They are going to do some biographies."

She said they may have to do work on the book outside classtime, as the IB programme is very rigorous.

"Such a book may be interesting to a lot of people," said Ms Khoo. "A lot of tourists come through here, and might be interested in it. People come from all over the world to visit this graveyard."

IB Community Service programme Coordinator Kathy Davis said with a laugh: "I think we (the teachers) were more excited to be here, initially.

"But they are doing pretty good considering they are teenagers. We hope that every time they go past here from now on, they can say, I helped there. They will feel a connection with the place."

On this visit, students also learned what some of the symbols on the graves mean. Here are a few:

An anchor represents hope.

An angel represents a messenger between God and man.

A flying angel represents rebirth.

A winged skull represents the flight of the soul from the mortal body.

A willow tree: represents grief.

Ivy represents memory and fidelity.

A rose represents sorrow.

A cross represents salvation.