Monday, September 06, 1999
Aquarium to launch educational program
30,000 students already signed up
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — The mysteries of the underwater world will unfold for area schoolchildren beginning Tuesday,when the Oceanic Adventures Newport Aquarium launches its education and field-trip program.
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LOOKING AHEAD
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Among plans for the educational department area:
• Overnight student sleep-ins at the aquarium — called “Sleeping With the Sharks.”
• Modular classrooms on the grounds.
• Aquarium ambassadors who can visit schools accompanied by some of the animals best able to travel, similar to the program operated for many years by the Cincinnati Zoo.
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The Aquarium Institute Inc., a nonprofit arm of the aquarium, was an important part of the dream of attorney Tom Heekin and his friend and partner, businessman Jamie Burchenal, when they assembled the group that financed and developed the aquarium.
Sherri Higginbotham, the aquarium's new director of education, said she already has 30,000 students signed up for tours in the coming months.
“And that's just the start,” she said. “I'm certain we will see the number of students taking part in our program grow as the word gets out to more schools both locally and in the region.”
Because there are no separate educational facilities at the $40 million aquarium, students will learn as they walk through the exhibits, thanks to special teacher's guides that will be made available to teachers accompanying their classes.
“When a teacher registers her class or classes for a field trip, she'll receive a special curriculum packet that in cludes information on each gallery of the aquarium,” Ms. Higginbotham said. “And the teacher will receive an advance pass so he or she can walk through the aquarium and have a better idea of how they can present the information.”
Barb Packard, science coordinator at Hopewell Junior High in the Lakota School District, is bringing 350 seventh-graders to the aquari um in October.
“I'm sure the kids will be excited,” said Ms. Packard, who recently toured the aquarium. “I found it to be wonderful. I think the students will enjoy the movie (in the Pirate Theater), and the tunnels are great.”
To help kick off the educational program, Fifth Third Bank is giving the Aquarium Institute a $300,000 corporate sponsorship gift. “This is really a lot of fun for us,” said Brad Stamper, president of Fifth Third's Northern Kentucky operation. “We'll have some special events on Tuesday, and we are sponsoring an environmental essay contest for students in grades one through 12.”
Aquarium owners eventually plan to expand the current facility, probably in the area close to the Taylor-Southgate Bridge, to include a classroom and resource center where visiting students can learn more about the animals that live in our rivers and oceans. “There are a number of things we want to do in the long term,” Ms Higginbotham said. “We hope to have many more corporate sponsors like Fifth Third, and that will enable us to expand.”
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