“My 2nd graders absolutely loved the tide pool presentation! No absences today because the students were so excited about the visit. Thank you!” This is what teacher Melissa Cline had to say about our recent visit to her classroom.
Even her mom had to tell Aletha via email: “Just wanted to let you and Tom know how excited my daughter was with yesterday’s presentation with the children. She thought it was just wonderful and I heard the kids did too. What a great experience for them all. I sure hope next time I can be there too.”
What is so rewarding and motivating to us as we travel around our valley is how the Teaching Tidepools® program continues to positively impact young students and fuel their innate desire for learning. If we can keep just one student interested in school, perhaps we will have a part in keeping that student from dropping out.
Melissa shared with us that so many of her students are children of migrant workers who are likely to move on to many different schools throughout their childhood. The unique situations of many families who live and work in California’s San Joaquin Valley make programs such as ours that much more vital to student success. How easy it is for young people to think that school is unimportant and not relevant for their futures.
Exciting students about education opens doors of opportunity in careers that require critical thinking and people who are open to new experiences. Our programs are actually not so much focused on the oceans and touching sea creatures, but rather on the cultivation of a love for lifelong learning in the young minds we touch.