The Georgia Sea Turtle Center has teamed up with Georgia Southern University to create a summer workshop for teachers! This workshop will focus on increasing teachers’ knowledge of sea turtles and Georgia’s coastal environment through enrolling in a hands-on course held at the GSTC here on Jekyll Island . By taking this knowledge back to their classroom and students, this project will impact these students, who will be making decisions in the future that will be critical to the sustained survival of this threatened species and the coastal environment. Dr. Marti Schriver and Dr. Kenneth Clark from Georgia Southern University also assist the teachers in linking their experiences to the Georgia Performance Standards, technology, and development of resource kits they can utilize in their classrooms.
Melissa Allen, Caryn Culbert, Faith Wittke, and Jamie Terry participated in the first session of this workshop last month, June 8-14. Read below to view personal accounts of their experiences!
“One of the biggest highlights was when the technicians were attending to some of the sick and injured turtles in the hospital and I was able to explain to the visitors what was going on. It intrigued them and they spent more time in the center asking questions, which I was able to answer. It was very rewarding that I was able to share knowledge of a great organization.”
~Caryn Culbert
“On the second day of our workshop, we spent the morning with Taylor Schoettle, author of A Guide to a Georgia Barrier Island: Featuring Jekyll Island with St. Simons and Sapelo Islands. He led us on a nature tour of the island, including some diverse examples of island geology and ecology. We traveled to several diverse habitats—Clam Creek, North Beach, a live oak beach, and a maritime forest, while Mr. Schoettle pointed out some his favorite and most striking species along the way.” ~Faith Wittke
“I can’t wait to get back to my classroom and share with my students the amazing experiences I’m having at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island. I was lucky enough to go out with the beach turtle patrol and help them collect data on nesting sea turtles. I got up close and personal collecting measurements on two loggerhead sea turtles as they were on their way back to the ocean. Each loggerhead sea turtle easily weighed more than me, was incredibly strong, and had an impressive variety of creatures living on its shell. It will not be an experience that I will soon forget.” ~Jamie Terry
“The day started with general maintenance and care of all the patients. We went to each tank to check on the patients, to take the salinity of the water (should be between 30-33 ppt which is very close to the normal ocean salinity of approximately 35 ppt), and to take the temperature of each tank (ranged from mid to high seventies). We checked all medical records to determine all medicines and vitamins to be administered in the morning feedings. Every single piece of food was measured, counted, and recorded prior to feeding (later each piece that was not eaten was also recorded and thrown away). It was a full and fun filled day in the life of a turtle hospital-all in a day’s work as a husbandry volunteer!” ~ Melissa Allen
The GSTC will be hosting the second and final session of our Teacher Workshop this week, July 6-12. Stay tuned to learn about our participants and their experiences!
~Alicia B. Marin, Senior Educator
In the heavy, moist summer heat, children dig along the seashore and excavate backyard sandboxes to create sandcastles from their wildest imaginations. Some have hopes of finding crabs, clams, shells, and other buried treasures as they scour the sand. But would they ever dream of discovering turtle 
eggs on their hunt?
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