We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Harlem High School English Teacher Heather Jorgenson found herself on the adventure of a lifetime last July after being one of 28 teachers selected from about 250 applicants nationwide to participate in the Bimini Shark Lab Teacher Institute in the Bahamas. After getting herself to Fort Lauderdale, her scholarship covered the rest of her expenses. The program sought teachers from under-resourced, landlocked schools, where the students would not likely otherwise have exposure to studies about marine ecosystems, for the intensive week-long study of marine habitat for the purpose of building awareness for the challenges currently being faced in these ecosystems.
Though most of the participants were from science disciplines, Jorgenson’s approach to the application process was to focus on media misinformation and why it is critical for students to be able to discern facts and how to find the real story. “For instance,” she said, “Because of the media, sharks are often very misunderstood. They are widely portrayed as aggressive predators, when that’s not necessarily the case. I want my students to be able to find facts and not believe the propaganda.”
This grant allowed Jorgenson to travel to the Bimini Island in the Bahamas where she spent mornings learning through lectures by Dr. Dean Grubbs, who you may recognize from the Discovery Channel or National Geographic, about elasmobranchs, including sharks, rays and skates, and their ecosystem.
In the afternoons, she did fieldwork with researchers. One of their processes involved a skill we landlocked folk most likely associated with ranching. They lassoed lemon and nurse sharks and then rolled them on their backs to induce tonic immobility which allows researchers to briefly secure them for tasks such as applying pit tags that will provide additional data via satellite technology.
Another favorite part of the fieldwork was swimming with the southern stingrays. “They were like big dogs,” said Jorgenson. “They would swim up on your lap and want to be petted.”
“Sharks”, she said, “are similar to predators in our local ecosystem. They may pose a danger, but we can learn how to respect them.” Lemon and nurse sharks live in sandy flats and mangroves where they tend to mind their own business. But they can be provoked or may act curiously when we move within their habitat. Before leaving on her adventure, Jorgenson visited the Harlem Public Library to learn all she could. The interaction prompted Colleen Brommer and Carly Vauthier to invite her back to give a presentation to the community. The event, held last week, was a big success. And may end up being the first in a series. Jorgenson, who is a 1998 graduate of MSU Northern, has another grant in the process for more travel to continue to enhance her teaching. The next will be more in the history realm. She contends that all the disciplines, science, english, history, etc. are intertwined, and working collaboratively enhances the quality of education.
“This trip,” she says, “is the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” And it’s just the beginning.
