Teachers get hands-on training with Guy Harvey Foundation event

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. ( WMBB ) — Gulf World Marine Park was filled Friday with smiles and science.

Teachers from different Panhandle schools had the opportunity to tag sharks and inspect lionfish for hands-on development training.

The Guy Harvey Foundation, with help from the St. Joe Community Foundation, hosted the experience and education event at Gulf World Marine Park.

“It’s going to create so much more interest in science and art and technology,” said April Wilkes, St. Joe Community Foundation executive director. “We just want to get them out from behind their computers and out into the environment and see all of the things that they’re having the ability to do in their future.”

On its first day, the groups were split between a teacher field trip to the Gulf World Marine Park and the Man in the Sea Museum. The other group sat down for a hands-on education session.

“One of the main missions of our foundation is to get kids salty,” said Betty Bergnes, Guy Harvey Foundation. “The first line of that is to actually get the teachers to experience what it’s like to come to some of these habitats and we’re having these trainings across the state.”

The teachers said this training is a huge help in the classroom, taking firsthand experience and knowledge back to their students.

“Everything about shark anatomy my kids are going to love this lesson. They are going to say our teacher gets to tag sharks on a school day? What’s going on here? So I want them to look at that like, you know what, our teachers got this. We can do it ourselves,” said Kenrick Jacqmim, Walton County Science Teacher.

“It’ll be good to be able to go and see the kids and speak with firsthand knowledge and show them pictures. of here’s me putting a tag on a shark.,” said Kenneth Atkinson, middle school science teacher.

“Information that I didn’t know prior, just the little tidbits of information,” said Brandon Marolla, middle school marine science teacher. “Having a shark specialist here is really awesome to see, giving us things that I was like, I never knew that.”

“Any time I attend a Guy Harvey training, I always leave with tons of really good information to bring back to the classroom. Any time Harvey comes out with the training, I am on it right away,” said Jessica Green, Arnold HS biology teacher.

The two groups will switch programs on Saturday.

Learn more about the Guy Harvey Foundation and the St. Joe Community Foundation online.

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