The GSTC Education Staff is always looking for new ways to engage our young sea turtle enthusiasts. Not long ago I came across the most incredible resource…a life-size, inflatable leatherback! Yes, a 9ft inflatable replica of the largest and deepest diving reptile on the planet! And thanks to an extremely generous grant from the M.K. Pentecost Ecology Fund, we were able to purchase one!  We have named our new, giant friend Cori, since Dermochelys coriacea is the scientific name of the leatherback sea turtle.  This grant also allowed us to purchase 3 Green, 3 Hawksbill and 3 Leatherback sea turtle skull replicas to strengthen our educational programs!

Our new teaching tools arrived just in time for the new school year. Schools are an excellent community resource for informing young citizens about their fragile environment and cultivating a sense of stewardship. Unfortunately, many schools lack adequate resources or curricula to support environmental education. It is for this reason that the GSTC created the Sea Turtle Education Project (STEP), a STEP in the right direction for sea turtle conservation.

STEP is designed as a three-part educational outreach effort based on Amazing Adaptations,™ Georgia’s Sea Turtles™, and Garbage in the Water™, a field-tested, standards-based environmental education curriculum exploring sea turtles and pollution prevention. Two school-based visitations and a field trip to the GSTC will be supplemented throughout the year by suggested readings and investigations, culminating in a class-designed research or community awareness project.

The primary audiences of the STEP program are third-graders and their teachers in public and private schools in Glynn County. Approximately 1000 students and 25 educators from 20 different schools will participate in the STEP program this academic year FOR FREE, thanks to a grant received by the Environmental Protection Agency!

It is with deepest gratitude that I thank both the M.K. Pentecost Ecology Fund and the Environmental Protection Agency for their sea-port! And the turtles thank you too!

~Alicia B. Marin, GSTC Education Coordinator