Day 5: We had a grat tim

We were all very happy to have an extra hour for sleeping this morning. We didn't have to be at the hospital until 8:30, because today was the day that (almost) all of us were looking forward to: we were going to teach over 350 children about sea turtles.

9:00 - Everyone was prepared to welcome all of the energetic children. As the kids were arriving, a small termite nest began a serious hatching event and a subsequent grant migration through the education hallway. We had to quickly sweep them up before they "ravaged" the children; we ended up teaching our stations straight through until 12:30 without any breaks. Here are the different stations we had!

Nicku started the kids off by giving them a brief overview of the different sea turtles of the world, including the Loggerhead, Green, and Kemp's Ridley turtles that are in the hospital.
Donald and Elizabeth then presented different sea turtle parts, emphasizing that a sea turtle shell is called a Carapace.

Juhye educated the students on cold-stunning, which is when the temperature of the water changes dramatically and freezes the turtles. Many turtles at the hospital are recovering from being cold-stunned.
At the next station, Monica talked about two of the hospitals very special cases called October and Walker, who both underwent surgery and were able to be released successfully.

Nicole and Jess presented the kids with the large trash turtle, which an artist donated to the hospital. Children pointed out different items of trash that made up the piece, and they learned about what they can do to reduce pollution.
Rhea and Nick educated the students about turtle nesting using bright images and a glass exhibit with an artificial nest and hatchlings. They made sure to discuss how hatchlings follow the moonlight into the water and how house lights often lead them in the wrong direction.

   

On a different note, Zabrina helped teach the students about the pollinator crisis, including how the hospital uses honey to heal wounds.
Brian's station was by the sick bay windows, where he talked about each of the hospital's sickest patients. Some of the turtles were in their tanks, and one turtle swam in the facility's therapy pool, which simulates ocean currents.

 12:30 - Everyone was beat, smiling, and very hungry. Thanks to the wonderful, generous Peggy, we helped ourselves to pasta salad, chips, cookies, and small pineapple cheesecakes! The break room was full of laughter, as everyone shared funny stories of working with the kids at their different stations. Apparently, even though we said the word "carapace" a million times, the children seemed to be very attached to the word "SHELL!" and the chaperones were very thankful for our help. Overall, we loved the experience, regardless of how sore our throats were after talking for over 3 hours straight.

2:30 - The squad hopped in the car to drive to the south point of the island. Since Topsail Island is a barrier island, sand naturally erodes from the north point and deposits on the south point, so the island moves south. We took a nice stroll in the wind around the south point, while making sure to stop many times for mini photoshoots along the way at dunes, tall grass, and the shore.

6:00 - Rhea and Monica made the fam a delightful, healthy vegetarian dinner, which we are all sure the parents would've been glad to see. Like always, we sat at the dinner table and had a long conversation about memes. (Check this video out for some laughs!!)

 7:00 - For the last time today, we got in the car to go to yet another pretty place that is perfect for photoshoots. Nearby there is a pier that stretches far out across the marsh, and the sunset is absolutely breathtaking! Many of us had Donald take high-quality pictures of us, hoping to use them as new profile pictures on Facebook, and we took a group photo spelling "THT" with our bodies on the pier for more Terps Helping Turtles memories!

8:00 - As always, we sat around for reflection in the living room, first talking about our experiences with the kids and then moving on to our favorite quotes relating to service. We discussed the importance of educating the children in the area about the threatened sea turtles and how learning about how they can make a difference in the environment has the potential to cause great change in the future. While we shared our favorite quotes, Nicole saved audio clips of each of the quotes to add to our digital story at the end of our trip (which is a lot sooner than we'd like!) The conversation got deep, people may or may not have cried, and we ended with a warm group hug.

Quote of the day: "I had a grat tim!"

That's all for today folks! Tune in next time for an exciting blog post! Peace out- Nicku & Nick