More than 150 students from seven Dominican primary schools, this month, completed an innovative, Ministry of Education-sanctioned ocean science curriculum called Floating Classrooms.
For the program’s culmination, each student now has the chance to participate in a custom-designed, educational ocean excursion on vessels owned and captained by Dominican members of CARIBwhale, the association of Caribbean whale-watch operators.
From June 16 through 24, a total of seven boat excursions for Floating Classrooms 2011 embarked, from the Roseau Ferry Terminal, on vessels operated by CARIBwhale member such as Dive Dominica.
After four months of in-school study and learning activities about the importance of protecting Dominica’s marine environment for the country’s aesthetic and economic future, each school group gets to embark on a 2.5-hour research cruise, which includes hands-on lessons and observation about ocean creatures, diving gear and marine habitat protection.
“At their age, I’d never been out on the water or seen a whale, even though I grew up in Roseau beside the sea,” said Mr. John-Baptiste, 24, a six-year veteran at Dive Dominica who began working on the whale-watch crew four years ago and has been captaining excursions since 2008. “I had never considered working in tourism as a career. My peers and I just wanted to be firemen or policemen. These children are lucky to be exposed to other options at such a young age, especially since tourism represents such a significant portion of Dominica’s economy.”
Marvlyn Jervier of Soufrière Primary School, one of two primary schools that launched the full-scale Floating Classrooms curriculum in 2010 as part of a pilot program, said her students fulfilled math, science and social studies national education requirements while studying Floating Classroom lessons. “They wouldn’t let a week to pass without a Floating Classrooms unit, and would ask about it if a few days went by without doing a lesson from it,” she said.
Designed as a model for other Caribbean islands, Floating Classrooms is supported by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), a global nonprofit organization with more than a decade of conservation experience in Dominica and Eastern Caribbean islands.
Schools participating in the program were Grand Bay Primary School, Grand Fond Primary School Jones Beaupierre Primary School in La Plaine, Salybia Primary School, Soufrière Primary School, St. John’s Primary School in Portsmouth and St. Luke’s Primary School in Point Michel.
What a terrific program! And kudos to Dominica for not supporting killing whales either! Keep up the great work!
Great initiative. Indoctrinate them from an early age so they can grow up to be Dominica’s biologists, conservationists, and scientist. Positive vibes!