Teachers from Tybee Island Maritime Academy joined us for a day out on the water filled with discussion on how oysters can fit into their classroom to inspire students.

We partnered with Calvary Day School for their STEM night, where we discussed the concept of floating oyster farms and the vital role oysters play in our environment. Students used refractometers and calipers to measure oyster sizes, ensuring they met the 2-inch legal selling requirement.

We are engaging with student from different schools to emphasize the essential role oysters play in the ecosystem through classroom visits. Topics include oysters as filter feeders, exploring aquaculture, oyster anatomy, water quality, experiments, and more! Students are encouraged to consider oysters as a nature-based solution for tackling environmental challenges.

We hosted our first ever student field trip with two third grade classes from Tybee Island Maritime Academy. While one group explored the history of oysters locally and visited Tybee Oyster Company’s farm, the other was busy testing water quality and analyzing plankton samples.

We worked alongside numerous dedicated educators and scientists on St. Simons to share ECO’s mission and conduct an oyster dissection centered on the theme “Excoexplorers: Ecosystems and Invertebrates.