I
t’s time for our Save-A-Turtle officers and board members to change their hats, so to speak. When nesting season ends, we transition into event and education time. For the next several months, we will be traveling around the keys with our education trailer teaching our residents and visitors about sea turtles, nesting, hatchlings, lighting and so much more.
We recently attended a Marine Science Fair at a local school on Sugarloaf Key, and our efforts are reaching beyond the islands. In the past week we participated in a Lego League program with 4th and 5th graders in Boyleston, Ma. via FaceTime and we are assisting another student from Mitchell College in Connecticut with a project she is working on for one of her classes as well.
This was the second year Sugarloaf School has held a Marine Science Night. This event is organized and run by Mrs. Callie Harris, one of the science teachers. This event is exceptionally important for students in the Keys as it helps expose them to a large variety of marine science resources right here in the Keys. We saw children as young as Pre-K all the way up to high school level come by our display and volunteers. These children and young adults are learning vital information about the marine environment and it’s inhabitants. We were as impressed this year as we were last year with the exceptionally thoughtful questions and dialogue we had with so many of them.
The LEGO League program challenges students to
identify a public space or building with a problem and then develop a solution to the problem. In doing so, they are required to reach out to experts for help. These children decided to choose sea turtle nesting beaches as their topic and reached out to us for guidance. The children presented us with their ideas and together, via FaceTime, we had a wonderful conversation about sea turtles and the threats they face.
The college student is taking a seminar class and must do a project about an organization she likes. Being as she loves sea turtles, she reached out to us as well for information about our organization, our staff of volunteers and what we actually do to help protect sea turtles. She was amazed that we not only focus on saving sea turtles in the field, but in the classroom as well.
It is very exciting to be able to share our knowledge and experience with students of all ages, and not just those living in the Florida Keys!
