Reaching Out: Sea Lab and Shell Oil Foundation provide marine education opportunities for minority students
 

 Minority students have traditionally been underrepresented in science education as both instructors and students, and this is especially true for marine science education.

Shannon Broughton reaches out during Oceans Alive, the DHP mini-camp for children 5-8.

To address this issue, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Shell Oil Foundation began offering summer teaching fellowships in 2002 to minority students interested in education. This summer, three fellowship recipients joined the ranks of marine educators on campus. Will Bolds of New Orleans, LA and the University of South Alabama, Shannon Broughton of Mobile, AL and Alabama State University, and Harold Francis of St. Croix, USVI and Alabama State University spent nine-weeks here, learning new skills, offering their own talents, and serving as role models to many students of 2003.

There was plenty to do this summer, with four weeks of middle school programs, six weeks of teacher training, four weeks of high school courses and various day camps and outreach programs to conduct. “This summer’s fellowship was almost like marine science education boot-camp for these participants,” said Dr. John Dindo, Chairman of Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s Public Outreach Programs.

Throughout the nine weeks, the fellows took part in educational workshops, learning teaching methods and curriculum planning, assisting the educators in conducting workshops, and in some cases directing portions of the classes themselves. Broughton plans on incorporating the hands-on activities and educational techniques she has learned into her own future classroom. “I’ve gained experience so I can be a great teacher with great experiments. I believe that I can teach more effectively since I’ve actually done the experiments and seen everything firsthand,” she said.

Francis enjoyed working with the Sea Lab’s educators, with their seemingly limitless knowledge of marine life, and said he became smarter merely by being in their presence. “I love how I get to work and learn at the same time,” said Francis. His favorite memory was when he made a difference by helping a shy student feel comfortable at the residential middle school camp. After some attention and a few jokes from Francis, the introverted boy felt at home in his new environment.

For Bolds, the fellowship opened his eyes to both the principles of marine science and the important influence a role model can have. As he traveled to schools in underserved areas with BayMobile, the Sea Lab’s travelling marine science classroom, he noticed the students responding and looking up to him. Bolds said, “I want to be a role model, so kids can say, ‘Oh, I don’t have to be a rapper; I can use my brain and be a scientist.’”

After graduation, Broughton plans to teach biology while attending nursing school in the evenings. Francis had planned to attend graduate school and become a pharmacist, but he is now considering an alternative career of teaching biology in his native St. Croix. Bolds plans on attaining his Ph.D. and teaching marine biology to college students.
---Courtney Pike