Summer break a learning experience for teachers
BY DAN NEWMAN
Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN - Most teachers look forward to getting out of the classroom during the summer months and having fun.

Two local residents did just that recently, and they even learned a little something as well.

Eileen Vannucci, a fifth-grade teacher at Nut Swamp School, and Eileen Beaumont, a township resident who teaches environmental science at Poricy Park, were given the opportunity to join scientists and other volunteers as part of Earthwatch Institute, a private international organization supporting scientific field research.

Vannucci's summer excursion lasted for 11 days in Belize, a central American nation bordered by Mexico to the north, Guatemala to the west and south, and the Gulf of Honduras to the east. The trip was sponsored by the Geraldine Dodge Foundation.

Vannucci's grant was so that she could study manatees in the area under the tutelage of Caryn Self-Sullivan, a marine scientist associated with Texas A&M University, who has devoted the past eight years of her life to studying the animal.

"Belize is pretty much one of the last great strongholds for manatees and so it was a great chance for me to go down there and learn," Vannucci said. "Caryn's focus while we were down there was to try and find out how many of them were still down there and where do they travel and move. We also wanted to educate the Belizean people on manatees."

While Vannucci stayed very close to the equator, Beaumont spent her time in a somewhat cooler climate.

"I was in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, studying climate change at the Arctic's edge," Beaumont said. "The temperature ranged anywhere from 45 to 80 degrees, so it wasn't always a given that things were going to stay consistent in that aspect."

While in Manitoba, she assisted Dr. G. Peter Kershaw, an assistant professor from the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Alberta, Canada.

Although it was often very cold, Beaumont and the other 11 volunteers with her had to wear bug masks.

"By the end of the trip, though, I had bug bites on my head and neck. I still don't understand how that happened," Beaumont said.

On June 24, Vannucci joined 11 others in Drowned Cayes, an island inside the Belize Barrier Reef.

"I had never snorkeled before and so I was a bit nervous about that," Vannucci said.

While in Canada, Beaumont assisted the research project by obtaining a small mammal census and identified plants that were growing in small squares, or quadrants.

It wasn't all about doing work with plants for Beaumont and the other volunteers. At some points, they actually had to worry about their physical well-being.

"We saw eight polar bears while we were up there, and one of them came right to the door of our research center," Beaumont said. "They were leaving the ice about three weeks earlier than we had expected them to. They were hungry and aggressive."

Vannucci said that her main goal was to be able to come back to her fifth-graders and teach them about marine life, specifically manatees.

"I want to show my students how important it is to try and preserve the environment, both for manatees and other species that are out there," Vannucci said. "I want to be able to explain that it's a rarity to see a manatee in New York Harbor. Besides teaching them about manatees, I want them to learn plenty about marine life overall.

For Beaumont, she said her trip was very worthwhile and informative.

"I'm so glad I went and that I was able to help out while I was up there," Beaumont said. "I just want to try and help our world stay active. I just want to make a small difference in our world. I can now use my hands-on experience to enhance the students' experience in classes they take at Poricy Park.

As for future journeys to far-off and exotic lands, Vannucci says she definitely wants to go back for some more, maybe in a different location next time.

But even if she never goes on another trip the rest of her life, she definitely knows that this summer was a good one.

"I was definitely the kid with the best story on the first day of school this time around."