The Annette Urso Rickel Foundation provided two grants to Palm Beach Day Academy to study and problem-solve the barrier reef decline.
Participating in a real-world race against time to understand and rescue coral from the stress being placed on the species by climate change, Upper Campus students founded the PBDA Coral Project in Fall 2018 to help focus local and national attention on the plight of the world’s reefs. The project was nominated in Spring 2019 as a finalist of the Palm Beach Illustrated‘s Education Awards in the “Oustanding Program Award” category.
Project: PBDA Coral Project
School: Palm Beach Day Academy
Teacher: Ashley Hollern
Grades Taught: 8th & 9th grade science
Goals:
To engage students in the local and global issue, the loss of the coral reefs.
- Students engaged in the development and implementation of a new lab setting equipped to conduct meaningful research pertinent to coral restoration.
- Development of Partnerships with local and Global organization that would help educate us on what active tole we could contribute.
- Growth in student commitment beyond the classroom via marketing, data collection, media creation, and educational outreach opportunities.
- Participated in a statewide STEM challenge from the Coral Restoration Foundation, placing in the Top 5 submissions and received excellence award.
The Palm Beach Day Academy Coral Project culminated in a video documentary (above), which shares the entirety of the student’s process.
Project News & Stories
- The Coral Project is Saving Our Seas
Protecting the Earth starts in your own backyard—and, as a group of local middle schoolers are proving, there’s no minimum age requirement. - Palm Beach Day Academy’s reef project takes the airwaves
Palm Beach Day Academy teachers Ashley Hollern and Jonathan Paine launched a year-long project with students to protect coral reefs.