Fourth-graders lobbied for cranberry juice as N.J.’s state juice. Now it goes to Gov. Murphy.

They lobbied, wrote letters, and trekked to Trenton to make their case to lawmakers to make cranberry juice a symbol for New Jersey.

And it worked. The state Senate unanimously approved a bill Monday designating cranberry as the state juice. With the Assembly having previously approved the measure, it now heads to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.

It was a long time coming for the fourth graders in Erin Zarzycki’s class at Eleanor Rush Intermediate School in Cinnaminson, a project started in 2020 with now-sixth graders during a lesson on state symbols.

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Last week, the class made a final push during a trip to the statehouse to testify at a hearing on the bill. They waited anxiously Monday for the vote, Zarzycki said.

Zarzycki flashed a picture of the 36-0 vote sent by the office of State Sen. Troy Singleton (D., Burlington), one of the bill’s sponsors. Her students jumped to their feet and cheered, she said.

“They were so proud of themselves,” Zarzycki said. “This is awesome.”

Zarzycki said the students, who learned how a bill becomes a law during their civics lesson, raised a concern that Murphy could veto it, blocking the measure from becoming a law.

“Is the governor going to say no?” they asked Zarzycki. Murphy has 45 days to take action.

Zarzycki said she reassured the class that the bill had bipartisan support and has a good chance of becoming a law.

And Singleton said Monday: “I anticipate the governor signing it. I don’t know why he wouldn’t.”

Singleton said the students were passionate advocates for the bill, which was reintroduced this year for a second time. The pandemic and delays put the bill on hold when it was first proposed in 2020.

After learning that New Jersey didn’t have a state beverage, students began brainstorming. They rejected tomato juice — because they didn’t think that would be popular. They turned down blueberry juice, too.

They selected cranberry juice to celebrate the state’s cranberry-growing heritage. New Jersey’s cranberry production ranks third in the country with an annual harvest valued at $15.8 million.

This year’s fourth graders said they wanted to make the class that started the process proud by getting the bill signed. Some changes were made to the bill, such as making cranberry juice the state juice, not the state “beverage.”

During their statehouse visit, the students teamed up to make their pitches. They cited statistics and gave a historical overview of cranberries, grown in the Pinelands.

“Many kids before us have created New Jersey state symbols, like the state insect and the state fruit,” said Gabriella Fennel, “and so when we learned about the cranberry, we knew this was a powerful fruit and a delicious juice worthy of a state symbol.”

Said classmate Robbie Minniti: “Our history is ripe with the love of cranberries. For this reason, we think that cranberry juice is the right juice to be the state juice!”

Besides the civics lesson, Zarzycki offered her students a life lesson: “Hard work pays off,” she said. “If you work hard enough, you’ll go places.”