MCH Middle School Bonaire Expedition
by Blue Endeavors
A 501(c)(3) non-profit for ocean conservation, restoration, and education. All the tax deductible donations from this fundraiser go towards the expenses of the expedition for the MCH students.
To learn more about the Montessori Children’s House Middle School Curriculum, please visit www.mchkids.com
Some of you may have already caught wind of the spirited buzz swirling around our Middle School. For those of you haven't, we're thrilled to announce that MCH is embarking on a remarkable journey, one brimming with heart and purpose, all thanks to our newfound partnership with Blue Endeavors.
Blue Endeavors is a non-profit organization wholly and dynamically dedicated to the vital cause of ocean conservation. Our middle school is teaming up with them to launch a transformative 2-year life science curriculum, culminating in an awe-inspiring expedition to Bonaire. There, our students will actively engage in restoring a local coral reef.
Blue Endeavors has been guiding high school students and middle school students on this expedition for several years, providing them with invaluable real-life experience in the intricate art of coral reef restoration. The impact of this collaboration cannot be overstated; it is nothing short of exhilarating.
Mark your calendars for next Friday, September 22nd, and join us as we wrap up Connection Week with a fun and connected evening filled with learning more about this adventure, socializing, and celebrating a commitment to a brighter, more sustainable future. Together, we can make waves of change, and it all begins with this very first fundraiser event.
We are asking for a donation of $100 per family to this kick off fundraiser, with all proceeds going towards this expedition. While you spend time with other adults at the Lily Pad (Jennifer McConnell's House across from the school at 5024 218th Ave NE), your children are invited to join their friends and a few of their teachers on campus in Red Alder for a pizza dinner and movie night where they will be watching "Puff: Wonders of the Reef".
As we come together to support this incredible initiative, we're not just raising funds; we're planting seeds for nurturing our students to "see themselves as contributing members of their local and global community" and using "their strengths and passions to make a difference in the world."
The following video is from a middle school in California. The MCH middle school is currently fundraising so that 100% of MCH Middle School students can participate in the program you are viewing below. Once that goal is met, funds will support local Jong Bonaire students in participating in the program with MCH students.
This place-based experiential learning expedition is in line with the educational goals at MCH. Blue Endeavors will prepare students to become underwater researchers and storytellers through a multidisciplinary STEAM curriculum starting in January 2024.
The 2025 Expedition
Location: Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean
Bonaire is located just north of Venezuela in the southern Caribbean. This Dutch Caribbean island has protected its marine resources for more than 35 years. Because of this, marine life abounds with more than 470 fish species found in Bonaire’s waters. Famed as one of the best Caribbean dive destinations, Bonaire hosts amazing coral reefs and long forgotten shipwrecks. Underwater photography is a favorite activity due to Bonaire’s incredibly clear water and unspoiled ecosystem. Established as a marine park in 1979, Bonaire National Marine Park is now a hotspot for Caribbean biodiversity and a great destination for divers. For the past few years Blue Endeavors has been taking students to Bonaire to participate hands on in a project to grow the coral reef system in Bonaire. MCH Middle School students will be trained and certified in this process.
Impact Project: Coral Reef Restoration
For the past few years Blue Endeavors has been taking students to Bonaire to participate hands on in a project to grow the coral reef system in Bonaire. Corals can grow and reproduce both sexually, through spawning, and asexually, through a process called "fragmentation". If conditions are favorable, and a branch breaks away and falls onto the reef, it can reattach and begin to grow a new colony. Coral Reef Restoration project has developed a way of exploiting this natural process of fragmentation to allow us to efficiently propagate, or "farm", huge numbers of corals. They fragment coral colonies into smaller, finger-sized pieces. These smaller fragments are then hung on Coral Trees - a simple design that allows us to grow huge numbers of coral fragments in large, offshore nurseries.
Suspended in the nutrient-and-sunlight-rich water column, the fragments of corals on our Coral Trees grow into colonies that are large enough to be outplanted to the reef in just six to nine months.
Future Leaders Program
At Blue Endeavors, we seek to provide opportunities for students to develop self-awareness, understanding their own cultural identities and seeing other cultural perspectives, building authentic empathy. On this trip, students will have the opportunity to meet and work with peers from Jong Bonaire, a local group of students committed to learning about and protecting the marine environment. Through learning about their program, spending time getting to know them, and collaborating on data collection for a REEF survey we hope to build bonds between our communities. As we venture on this expedition, we hope to build the capacity of Blue Endeavors students to lead with empathy, be civically astute, and use their unique voices to address the issues that matter to them.
All donations are tax deductible. Blue Endeavors is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. EIN #45-4572219
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