Ashley Barton spent a portion of her summer helping children in Belize learn more about their environment.
Barton, a 2003 graduate of Scarborough High School, is now an education major at Smith College. She spent six weeks in the town of San Pedro, on the island of Ambergris Caye, located off the coast of Belize. She was one of six Smith students participating in a program titled Coral Reef Ed-Ventures, which is designed to increase awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of a healthy reef ecosystem.
Ambergris Caye’s close proximity to the Meso-American Barrier Reef, a 180-mile long reef spanning the waters of Mexico, Belize and Honduras, has made it Belize’s premier vacation destination.
But despite having a unique piece of ecology in their backyard, many of the island’s residents do not understand it or even seem to care much about the reef. This lack of interest and knowledge also is found with the school children.
“There wasn’t interest because they didn’t have any base for the interest,” Barton said.
The program was started in 2000 by some Smith College professors and in its first year two college students taught the program to seven children. But since then the program has grown and this year about 70 students ages 7 to 11 attended the camp.
While Barton was in Belize for six weeks, the camp lasted only two weeks. The rest of the time allowed the Smith students to set up the necessary pieces, including securing classrooms, designing field trips, and making the necessary connections to do them.
“You can’t really plan things over the phone,” she said. “It’s a lot of face-to-face interaction.”
They also were responsible for promoting the camp, which entailed visiting both public and private schools and also getting advertising in local newspapers.
The program was well received by the students, Barton said. In fact some of the students liked it so much they returned after taking it last year.
The class leaders noticed this about halfway through the camp and the students decided to scrap the current curriculum to start a new one that would provide these returning students with a more entertaining program.
“Those kids are coming back because they are interested,” Barton said.
The program leaders hope by giving these children a better understanding of the reef it will help them appreciate the benefits it provides for the island.
For example, the reef serves as a barrier from hurricanes and also provides small fish a place to hide until they become larger. It also brings in a great deal of tourism-related money.
To give the students some living examples of how the reef benefits islanders, guest speakers ranging from a local dive master to a fisherman were brought to the camp to discuss how the reef plays a large role in their job.
In addition to teaching the island’s children, the students also hosted a workshop for local teachers on using their environment as part of the curriculum.
Barton said incorporating the local environment into lessons is helpful for students because it gives them something that they are familiar with. These lessons do not even have to focus on the environment, but can encompass all subjects.
“For little kids having a concrete context to draw from really helps them to get an understanding,” she said.
While Barton did a lot of teaching during the trip, she also learned a lot about the reef herself. In addition she learned a lot about those living in San Pedro since she lived in a rented apartment throughout her stay. She also found time to do her own sightseeing, visiting Mayan ruins, snorkeling around the reef and visiting the rainforests.
“I learned so much there I felt it was a reciprocal experience,” she said.
Maria Lazaro, left, and Ashley Barton instructing students in Belize. Both will be juniors at Smith College this fall. Send questions/comments to the editors.
