This first couple of weeks of the 21st year of Coral Ed look quite different in comparison to previous years. Remotely, our team is hard at work on materials that we hope teachers and students in San Pedro will be able to use.

In order to get the word out about the Coral Ed program this year, we asked our friends at San Pedro Sun to help us notify people on the island. Check out this link to an article announcing that Coral Ed will not be returning to La Isla Bonita this year.

We started our work this year by reviewing past camp materials (2014 – present) and online resources in order to find what we think are the most promising lessons and activities for future camps. From corals to biotic relationships to mangroves, we sorted through the years, picked our favorites and together we were able to develop over twenty lesson plans! (The process of peer review proved to be extremely helpful). Working on lesson plans when you have not yet taught in San Pedro provides its own set of challenges for members of our team that are new this year, but the team continues to power through and do an amazing job. In another meeting, we each presented our favorite lesson plan to the group (team + professors) in order to get some feedback and share what we were learning and excited about.

The Start of Our Coral Ed Alum Panels

At the end of this week, we had our first Coral Ed alum panel with Beth Callaghan ‘04, who currently works at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a great opportunity to ask questions about effective lesson planning as well as ways to optimize the online learning experience. 

Moving Forward

Now that we have a grasp on the in-person lesson plans, we will begin the process of transforming those lessons into online formats so that they are available to the children of San Pedro (and possibly even a larger global audience!).

On another note, in lieu of T-shirts this year we got to choose our own ocean-themed mask:

   – Glenda Perez & Team STARRS