More than 20 Kent Place Middle and rising Upper School students and four faculty and staff members chose to spend a portion of their summer breaks this June in Florida for the “Splash into Science” Global Service Learning trip.

This trip was far beyond a typical science field trip. The girls hiked the Everglades at night and mangrove swamps by day, encountered and studied dolphins, snorkeled among vibrant tropical fish along Florida’s barrier reef and visited the world’s only state certified veterinary hospital dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of endangered sea turtles.

The students and chaperones actively took photos and blogged about their travels.

“Today we went snorkeling near the beautiful coral reef. We saw many sea creatures and various types of coral,” wrote Haley Bigler and Elizabeth Miller in their blog post. “Some people even saw a nurse shark! Some of the sea animals we encountered were yellowtails, yellow stingrays and other colorful sea creatures that live in the beautiful but protective coral.”

“Although I really did thoroughly enjoy all the activities over the course of the trip, I highly enjoyed being one with nature during the night hike in the Everglades and getting to see constellations which I have never really seen,” reflected Grace Reddington.

To learn in more details about this trip, please visit: blogs.kentplace.org/florida

On issues ranging from the environment to politics to culture, Kent Place students go beyond global awareness to action. The Global Service Learning Initiative is an opportunity to use the world as a living classroom and to explore new cultures with traditions and customs that stand in great contrast to our own. For more information about our Global Education programs, please visit, www.kentplace.org/global.