TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Teacher Dives Into Research Projects

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2008

VALRICO - Bradley Jackson got up close and personal this summer with the rays and sharks of Elkhorn Slough, an estuary off the coast of Monterey Bay in California.

Jackson, a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Valrico Elementary, was one of six local educators selected by the Tampa Bay Rays to hit the field with Earthwatch Institute, a nonprofit environmental group that conducts research and conservation projects around the world.

Jackson said strawberry fields near the West Coast estuary present environmental concerns similar to those found in Hillsborough County.

He will incorporate the lessons he learned into his fifth-grade curriculum and a class trip in March to Cockroach Bay in Ruskin.

"The students need to understand the big impact pesticides and fertilizers can have on the animals and the food chain," he said.

Other teachers selected for the program were Sarah Cooman, Sunset Hills School; Judith Fell, Citrus Park Elementary; Shannon O'Sullivan, Lake Magdalene Elementary; Jodi Warson, Bay Point Elementary; and Linda Whitaker, Palm Harbor University High.

Laura Frazier

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT