Students from Pace High School became teachers themselves as they instructed nearly one hundred fifth grade students from St. Lawrence School and Nativity School in a unique pair of field trips at Hollywood North Beach Park on February 23 and 24.
Working in conjunction with St. Thomas University, which provided a lot of the materials used on the trip, Pace science teacher Stephanie Hibbard’s Marine Science classes made eight stations at a picnic area next to the beach. Throughout the morning, fifth graders would alternate between stations on different subjects such as water chemistry, microbiology, and avian ecology. The format followed a condensed version of a typical high school student’s day, only outdoors and with trips to the beach to look for birds and observe beach erosion.
According to Hibbard, the Pace students were given a chance to prove what they have learned in her classroom and use their knowledge to teach others as their third quarter project. “Our kids [were] the teachers,” said Hibbard. “They had to create lesson plans and assignments with answer keys.”
The fifth graders were chaperoned by teachers from their schools and parents. St. Lawrence fifth grade home room teacher Christopher Souza chaperoned his school’s students on the Feb. 23 trip, while Nativity fifth grade teacher Annette Sanchez chaperoned her school’s students the following day.
“One of the biggest impressions I got was that the elementary school students were excited to be interacting with high schools students and vice versa,” said Hibbard.
While the fifth graders got the chance to learn about marine science, the Pace students ended up learning what it was like to be a teacher.
“I think it’s a great experience and it’s great to able to teach kids about what I’m learning in school,” said junior Jorge Arenas.
Hibbard states that she looks forward to holding similar trips next year.