'Classroom' lies just off the boardwalk
An education center at Fiddler's Cove wants to help fourth-graders learn about the environment while preparing for the FCAT.
By BRYAN BURNS
Published December 9, 2005
A handful of students gathered around retired Hillsborough County educator Mike Mullins and watched as he picked up a horseshoe crab and placed it in the hands of a young boy.
The horseshoe crab - along with a stingray and a minnow - had been caught moments earlier, a few steps off the boardwalk at the Mosaic Coastal Education Center at Fiddler's Cove.
The lesson was one of the first for the new education center, which opened last week.
Educators are hoping that hands-on activities like Mullins' will become the norm at the outdoor classroom, located just south of where the Alafia River empties into Hillsborough Bay.
"Learning here will not be a spectator sport," said Liz Hunnicutt, the elementary science education supervisor for Hillsborough County schools. "Children have an opportunity to observe organisms they share the environment with."
Fourth-grade students from Apollo Beach, Gibsonton and Riverview elementary schools will be the first to use the center. They will start a pilot program early next year.
Beginning in September 2006, Mosaic will allow other fourth-grade classes from southeast Hillsborough schools to make reservations to use the facility.
The curriculum for the center is specifically designed to prepare fourth-graders for the science portion of the FCAT taken in fifth grade. It was developed by a committee of Hillsborough County educators and citizens, and Mosaic employees.
The center features a pavilion and a boardwalk to the bay. It sits on 42 acres of conservation easement owned by Mosaic.
"This site has far exceeded our expectations," Hunnicutt said. "It takes your breath away."
Mosaic employees have been trained in the center's curriculum, and they assist teachers and students who visit Fiddler's Cove.
"We're about engaged employees and enriched communities," said Steve Pinney, a senior vice president with Mosaic. "Without our employees, we wouldn't be able to do this."
In a ceremony at the center's grand opening, the boardwalk and island sanctuaries were dedicated to Richard T. Paul, a local conservationist who recently passed away.
"It will serve to remind people of Richard Paul and his dedication to the environment," Pinney said.
Paul was a manager at the National Audubon Society and a "conservation hero," said David Anderson, president of the Audubon of Florida.
Anderson presented the Guy Bradley Award to Paul's family at the grand opening. The award is the Audubon's most prestigious and is given for lifetime achievement.