Assistant Director of Marine Magnet Program
Behind the Scenes of a Marine Magnet Program: Field Trips, Shark Tags, and What It Takes to Build Something Real
Most people see the field trip photos. They don’t see the months behind them.
As co-director of South Broward High School’s Marine Magnet Program, I was responsible not just for what happened in the classroom — but for building the kinds of experiences that made students understand why the classroom mattered in the first place. Hands-on learning was not a supplement to our curriculum. It was the curriculum.
Building the Program From the Outside In
The Marine Magnet Program at South Broward is selective. Students apply. They choose to be there, which means they arrive with a baseline of curiosity — and it was my job, alongside my co-director, to meet that energy with experiences worthy of it.
That meant planning field excursions that weren’t just educational checkboxes. It meant creating moments that students would carry with them long after high school. Shark tagging in open water. Snorkeling and reef study in the Florida Keys. Visits to science museums that put marine research in a broader context. These weren’t field trips. They were formative experiences built with intention.
Program Highlights at a Glance
• Shark tagging excursions — students participating in real field research alongside marine scientists
• Florida Keys reef trips — hands-on underwater observation tied directly to classroom curriculum
• Science museum partnerships — contextualizing marine biology within broader scientific research
• Community outreach — beach cleanups, conservation tabling events, and program promotion in the broader Hollywood/Broward community
• Program marketing and design — recruiting the next cohort of students through intentional outreach and storytelling
• Co-directed alongside faculty leadership to manage programming, logistics, community partnerships, and student development
• That kind of initiative, curiosity, and genuine passion is exactly what made her such an incredible educator and role model. She also regularly gave up her weekends for beach cleanups and other opportunities to engage students beyond the classroom. — Co-Director
What Program Direction Taught Me About Conservation
You can teach a student about coral bleaching. Or you can take them to a reef and let them see it. There is no comparison.
What I learned directing this program is that access is everything. Not every student grew up with a parent who took them fishing or a family who vacationed near the ocean. For some of my students, our field trips were their first time in open water. Their first time holding a fish. Their first time understanding that marine conservation wasn’t someone else’s problem — it was theirs.
That responsibility shaped every decision I made as a director. Every excursion was planned with the question: who is this for, and what will they take home from it? The answer was always the same. It was for the student who didn’t know yet that they cared about the ocean. And what I wanted them to take home was the beginning of that care.
That’s worth building a program around.
