First row: Scott Bigleman, Sarah Boles, Ashley Downs, Chip Seagle, Jaime Culpepper, and Rob Chapman.Second row: Chris Sharpe, Mrs. Downs (chaperone), Nikki Oestricher, Shandrika Parnell, Stephanie Bailey (teacher), Lottie Davis, Jarret Purvis, Karrie King and Warren Holland. Third row: (seated): Mrs. Parnell (chaperone), Mrs. Atwell (chaperone), Monica Moore, and Amanda Parker. Fourth row: (standing): Malik Al–Muslim, Naquan Livingston, Brittany Roof, Kyle Lucas, and Daniel Atwell.

Bailey contacted Edisto Beach State Park’s naturalist, Elaine Freeman, to find out about her educational tour, The Ecology of Barrier Islands. The program was exactly what Bailey was looking for, and since that time, her students have been putting classroom lessons into real life terms each year.

Bailey says, “The primary benefit of this trip is for my students to study an ecosystem, the estuaries, and barrier islands that are important to the state in which they live and then to experience them first-hand.”

During the trip, students take Freeman’s tour and engage in a photographic scavenger hunt. They also explore a salt marsh where they identify and touch organisms they have been studying like fiddler crabs and periwinkle snails.

The main focus of the tour is the importance of the region, its fragility, and the impact humans have on it. Bailey says, “The naturalist does a great job providing students a sense of responsibility to preserve areas like Edisto. The students learn a lot and I get many comments that begin with ‘So, is that why...’ or ‘Now I understand why...’ and ‘I never knew that...”

The annual field trip is now part of the core curriculum for Bailey’s marine science course. She hopes it will continue to grow and positively influence students beyond the classroom.