A Big Blue Classroom

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Generally speaking, you might find a guinea pig, hamster, or maybe even a lizard lounging in a cage as a class pet. However, in the Ocean Lab at St. Simons Elementary School, you’ll see a colorful blue crab snapping at fish, a hermit crab piling stones, several species of fish and other invertebrates. Not class mascots, but living, breathing learning resources for a school that has a distinct and defining feature that most others do not: it is located within walking distance of beach access to the vast classroom of the Atlantic Ocean.

“The School by the Sea” provides outstanding academics as well as some extraordinary hands-on learning opportunities for children in Kindergarten through 5th Grade. Taking advantage of their unique location and the valuable teaching resources offered by the ocean just beyond its front doors, the school began the Ocean Lab program almost a decade ago, and it is a favorite program for students and parents. If you go online to search community school grading/review sites, you’ll find the Ocean Lab program listed as one of the school’s notable features and advantages.

The lab is open Tuesday through Thursday while school is in session and Brooke Vallaster, a former employee of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, serves as the instructor, leading students from every grade level on field trips to the nearby beach and marshes. Her classroom is stocked with live sea creatures, via the school’s connection with another naturalist and former Georgia DNR employee, Brooks Good, and his business Coastal Outdoor Adventures. The students are rotated by grade through the lab every two weeks and learn about the fascinating creatures in the classroom’s tanks and the delicate coastal ecosystem in which they, and we, live. SSE Principal Katy Ginn, Vallaster, Good, and the SSE staff and PTA are all very proud of the Ocean Lab program and the unique educational opportunity it affords their students, some who have little access to the ocean, despite the fact they live here. The classes provide interesting and stimulating ways to supplement curriculum and present true hands-on experiences that allow students to better understand our ocean environment’s place and importance in the world.

From experimental scientific learning in the classroom setting with water and sand samples the students can examine under microscopes, the coastal fish, crabs, and other sea creatures in the tanks, to the class sessions on the beach where habitat, tides, ecologic impact of weather and season, and variety of species can be taught, the Ocean Lab program provides fantastic educational exposure to our coastal home. Fishing, using seine and cast nets, digging for ocean treasures, and gathering shells are part of the school day. “How fun is that?!,” asks Sara Brown, fundraising chair for the Ocean Lab. “Getting to go to the beach is a great way to encourage learning. The students get to connect with the environment in which they live and find out more about it.” She explains, “These are hands-on learning opportunities and memory-making experiences which also meet the Georgia Standards of Excellence for science, as well as cross-curriculum standards for other areas like reading, social studies, and even math.”

The challenge, Brown says, is to maintain the funding for the program. It isn’t free. The St. Simons Elementary PTA is committed to raising the funds required to keep the Ocean Lab program equipped with classroom materials and resources and a part-time instructor available for the days it is open. Last year’s Trackapalooza event was dedicated specifically to raising money for Ocean Lab, and it’s likely that this year’s event will be as well. There are also donation drives and in October of 2015, the PTA launched a ramped-up campaign to get students and their families more involved with the fundraising efforts that exceeded goals and netted $12,000. An oyster roast to thank donors and recognize supporters of the program was held in November. Brown says they are also applying for state and federal educational grants.

Supporters hope that they will be able to raise approximately $100,000 through donations and corporate giving campaigns over the next few years. Brown explains those funds would keep the lab operating comfortably for the next five years or more. Brown urges everyone in the community to get involved by spreading word about the program and its need for outside funding. If you have a business and would be interested in becoming a corporate sponsor, there are special incentives offered and your contributions would be very welcome. A PayPal donation link has been placed on the school’s website at glynn.k12.ga.us/SSI. This program is invaluable to the children of our community, fostering not only a mindset of preservation and conservation, but respect for the resources of this planet. Let’s do our part to help them continue this for years, and hopefully, generations to come.