New Summer Program launched by Palau International Coral Reef Center and Palau Community College Educational Talent Search Program

In collaboration with the Palau Community College Educational Talent Search Program, the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) launched a new STEM summer program for recently promoted Grades 8 and 9 students. The 17 students came from Palau High School, Emmaus-Bethania High School, Koror Elementary School (KES), Peleliu Elementary School, Airai Elementary School, Meyuns Elementary School, Melekeok Elementary School, and George B. Harris (GBH).

Throughout the week, the students took part in several activities. On Monday, June 24, the day focused on reef fisheries and aquaculture. The students did a fish dissection, set up an algae lab, and got a behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium. The following day, focusing on large-scale marine protected areas, the students learned about the Palau National Marine Sanctuary (PNMS) and did plankton and whale workshops.

On Wednesday, the focus was on science communication. The students connected to a deep-sea research vessel through a ship-to-shore interaction, explored the research vessel in virtual reality, and created their own short documentaries in the Palau Aquarium. A Palau Community College (PCC) student and recent graduate also delivered a 30-min presentation on PCC’s Environmental-Marine Science major.

The final two days were field trips. The students went up to Ngiwal State for a new ecotour in the mangroves, where they kayaked among the mangroves, hiked to a waterfall, and learned about the different mangrove species on a short river cruise. On Friday, the students completed the program with a beach clean-up in Kayangel State.

From June 17-21, PICRC also ran the Ocean Explorers Program for Grades 6 and 7 students. 13 students attended in total from Maris Stella School, SDA Elementary School, KES, Melekeok Elementary School, and GBH. This was the third time the program had run. It included a number of art and science activities at PICRC and the Palau Aquarium, as well as two field trips.

Educators-in-Science, a professional-development workshop for Palau’s teachers, took place from July 3-5. Elementary School teachers were invited to PICRC for research presentations, to go over marine science-based lesson plans and experiments for their classrooms, and to take part in the new ecotour in Ngiwal State. The 15 teachers came from Maris Stella School, KES, Meyuns Elementary School, GBH, and Melekeok Elementary School.

Finally, PICRC collaborated with the Emotional Support Program (ESP) to take part in a fourth intercession program. The purpose of the intercession program is to teach students the many healthy ways of coping with stress, managing emotions, and expressing emotions positively and productively. On June 24 and 25, PICRC researchers Mr. Singe Hideos and Ms. Mereng Andres attended the program where they presented 30-min activities on how learning about and being among nature can relieve stress. They reached around 40 students in total.

“We would like to thank all participating students, teachers, and our partners for making the programs a success and for the opportunity to connect and work together,” stated PICRC’s Interim CEO, Caryn Lkong Koshiba. “We will continue to work with the students and teachers of Palau to bring our marine science research right to their classrooms.”