Beaufort – The North Carolina Maritime Museum is helping teachers make the most of the informal education resources in Carteret County with a series of enrichment workshops this winter. These workshops can enhance the classroom learning experience by providing teachers with new lessons, field trips, or data sets about the marine environment and culture. Allison Besch, museum educator and workshop coordinator, said “The benefits of living in this area include access to the ocean and the wealth of marine science professionals that reside here.”
On Monday, Feb. 16, the museum will host Ocean Awareness Day, a workshop for teachers that introduces real scientific data into classroom lessons. The event is co-hosted by Miriam Sutton of Newport Middle School, and sponsored by South Carolina Sea Grant and the Southeast Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence. The agenda includes lesson plan demonstrations and guest speakers from UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Wilmington, and National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration’s Southeast Phytoplankton Monitoring Network. The free workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the museum auditorium.
Teachers benefit from attending workshops by receiving renewal credits for continuing education. They also bring ideas from the workshops back to the classroom to share. “It just gives me a way of organizing all of that information and finding opportunities for my students so they can make more of a connection to the area that they live in,” said Newport Middle School teacher Tanya Scott.
A regional group, the Mid-Atlantic Marine Education Association (MAMEA), held its North Carolina state meeting at the museum in January. The two-day workshop included sessions designed to showcase local education programs and connect classroom teachers with informal education resources. More than 30 educators attended, and the organization recorded 21 new or renewed memberships.
Educators toured the Maritime Museum and its facilities, including the Harvey W. Smith Boatbuilding Center. They also participated in museum education programs on marine research and mapping skills that are offered to schools year round. Presentations by educators from the N.C. Aquariums at Pine Knoll Shores and Fort Fisher and the Rachel Carson National Estuarine Research Reserve showcased the diverse array of education resources available in the area.
Registration is limited. For more information on these workshops or other museum education events, contact Allison Besch, Maritime Museum educator, at 252-728-7317 or allison.besch@ncmail.net. The Maritime Museum is part of the Division of State History Museums within the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture. Join in observing the 2009 Cultural Resources theme “Treasure N.C. Culture” and find podcasts and information about the Department of Cultural Resources at www.ncculture.com.