- November 18, 2024
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Princess Place Legacy Program student Johnny Dougherty, a high school junior, knew what kind of animals he wanted to cover when the Legacy program students began working on a biological survey of Princess Place.
He’d fished for just about everything that bites, and once had a big tarpon drag him miles in a little kayak on a fishing trip in Islamorada.
So on Sunday, April 27, the avid fisherman showed off an educational display of stuffed fish — all species he’d studied, and written educational summaries about for the display — at the Earth Day celebration at Princess Place. He answered questions from visitors about what the fish eat, how big they get and where they live.
The stuffed fish he displayed were bought with money from a $47, 500 State Farm grant to the Legacy program, which helps at-risk students work toward graduation, using hands-on activities like the biological survey to keep kids engaged.
Next to Dougherty’s table, 15-year-old Legacy program student Ace Routly showed off gastropods, mollusks and scallops.
“I’ve seen all of these on the beach before, but I didn’t know anything about them — how they eat, how they grow,” he said. “It’s interesting to know that stuff.”
Both students, members of teacher Hala Laquidara’s class, worked with biologist and Flagler Schools STEM Coordinator Jose Nunez on their biological survey project.
“They do really well here,” Nunez said. “Just putting this together is a life-changing experience for them. They learn about fish, research, interpretation and public speaking. They learn to understand the importance of the environment here at the preserve when they inventory species, and at the same time, they’re learning new skills.”
Nunez also helped students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University prepare a weather balloon and kite with sensors that measure atmospheric variables, attaching a GoPro camera to the rig to film from the air.
Younger children wandered around to tanks of water holding marine creatures like horseshoe conchs, blue crabs and Florida spiny lobsters, displayed by docents from the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience.
The horse conch —a football-sized specimen—was a hit, squirting water at giggling visitors when Janice McIntyre and the other docents showed it off.
McIntyre said the Legacy students helped set up the displays.
“These kids are great,” she said. “They’re so knowledgeable and so helpful. And I’m really glad that we get to bring these out for people to see.”
