South Fort Myers High students will be floating into a new environment this school year as they further explore watershed environments in Southwest Florida.
A grant proposal for $106,000 has been recommended for funding by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's (NOAA) Bay Watershed Education and Training program.
The school's science department chairman, Steven Wilkie, submitted an application to NOAA to expand on classroom lesson plans.
"Being able to take them out of the classroom makes lessons inside the classroom much more applicable," said Wilkie, who spent three years writing the grant proposal. "The textbook can only tell you so much."
The grant, which is expected to last for three years, will allow teachers to build a program incrementally until it is self-sufficient.
"You can't study watershed and the role we play in the environment unless you get them out into the environment," Wilkie said.
Marine Science students this year will be taken on field trips to watershed environments, or areas like rivers and beaches.
"We have been hit hard with budget cuts that keep our kids from going on field trips ... this will get them out there so they can study watersheds up close," said Wilkie who hopes to reach 300 students in three years.
Rookery Bay Research Reserve has agreed to donate a pontoon boat and access to its facilities to help the program locally.
"This partnership will help us as we fix the boat and spend time in the environment," said Wilkie, adding that students from different academies at the school will help in all aspects of the project.
They will eventually create lesson plans about watersheds, redesign the pontoon boat and educate others about watersheds.
The proposal is expected to be officially approved and sent to the school by Oct. 1.
"This will help them get more comfortable with the environment because they know about it," he said.
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