Groton — A group of freshmen from Ella T. Grasso Technical High School hauled their beach seine net ashore at Esker Point Beach as part of their "Freshman Exploratory" in the Biological Science & Environmental Technology shop experience Wednesday. All freshmen in the school spend several weeks in the middle of the first semester in the exploratory process. They spend two days each in every vocational shop in the school, pick three favorites and spend four more days in each of those before they choose the shop they will enter for the remainder of their four years at Grasso Tech.

Shop leader Chris McVeigh says there is something of a friendly rivaly between shops in recruiting students. "If I get 10 to 11 to join my shop, I'm happy," he added.