{"id":14011,"date":"2025-06-11T14:21:25","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T18:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=14011"},"modified":"2025-06-11T15:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T19:06:09","slug":"field-trip-reward-students-for-improved-academic-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/field-trip-reward-students-for-improved-academic-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Field trip rewards students for improved academic performance"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Pembroke Elementary students chosen for the \u201cOceans of Success\u201d field trip enjoyed the interactive tour of the aquarium.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By <\/em>Cindy Butler Focke<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Superintendent Dr. Donald Robertson Jr. and attorney Jeffrey Breit shook hands with \u201cOceans of Success\u201d field trip students when they arrived at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About 150 VBCPS third, fourth and fifth graders were congratulated at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center on June 6.<\/p>\n

Superintendent Dr. Donald Robertson Jr. and attorney Jeffrey Breit shook hands with smiling students as they arrived for the \u201cOceans of Success\u201d field trip sponsored by the law firm of Breit Biniazan and retired Virginia Beach Circuit Court judge Thomas Shadrick.<\/p>\n

Dr. Robertson spoke to the group before they dispersed throughout the aquarium.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations,\u201d he told them. \u201cPat yourself on the back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thalia Elementary fourth grader Na\u2019Aja Futrell said she was excited.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy teacher said my grades soared,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m very honored to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madison Geel said she was happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud of myself,\u201d the Bettie F. Williams Elementary fourth grader said.<\/p>\n

Chris Equels and Justin Fuller with the Aquarium\u2019s animal husbandry staff kicked off the event by introducing the special guests to \u201cForest,\u201d a 2-year-old, 6-foot-long eastern indigo snake.<\/p>\n

Students asked lots of questions and learned that the snake eats mice about twice a week, smells with his tongue, has no eyelids and sheds.<\/p>\n

They were divided into groups of sharks, crocodiles, turtles and seahorses before heading out in different directions. The turtles went outside to see the harbor seals \u201cHector\u201d and \u201cRudder\u201d in their huge glass-enclosed exhibit.<\/p>\n

Their guide was the aquarium\u2019s community engagement coordinator, Max Wright. \u201cThey are mammals, not fish,\u201d she told the group.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Gallery educator Paige Ehrhard invited students to touch a real turtle shell in the aquarium\u2019s Upland River room.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several Holland Elementary students, including Dennis Hardy, Tamia Johnson and Jai-omni Allen-Smith, wanted to know why the seals swim upside down. Wright explained that they like to be close to the top of the water so they can see what\u2019s below.<\/p>\n

Next up was the Upland River room, where they spied some birds and a red bellied slider turtle.<\/p>\n

Gallery educator Paige Ehrhard invited them to touch a real turtle shell.<\/p>\n

They continued on to see all kinds of fish, frogs, toads, salamanders, and searched for one of the world\u2019s largest lizards, a Komodo dragon, hiding in a habitat.<\/p>\n

Many wanted to linger longer at the ray touch pool for a chance to reach into the water and touch a cownose ray, or Atlantic or Southern stingray.<\/p>\n

Guest engagement educator Nathan Chmielewski praised the young visitors for their outstanding achievements. \u201cShout out to the Oceans of Success students,\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n

Chmielewski told them the pool also hosts Atlantic guitar fish and spot, a fish common in the Chesapeake Bay.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Holland Elementary students, from left, Dennis Hardy, Tamia Johnson and Jai-omni Allen-Smith watched the harbor seals swim upside down in their exhibit outside the aquarium.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thalia Elementary fifth grader Kaiden Powell seemed captivated by the pool and its inhabitants. \u201cI like nature and fishing and hiking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Eleanor Richards is the gifted resource teacher at Thalia Elementary. Students knew at the beginning of the school year about the opportunity to go on the field trip, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a good incentive for them to continue to work hard and overcome their challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Breit said the law firm was grateful for the opportunity to encourage students to do well in school and reward them with a unique experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of these students have never been to the aquarium, one of the greatest attractions in Virginia Beach besides the sand and ocean,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRead, write, talk, communicate,\u201d Breit told the students. \u201cThink really, really big and set your goals higher than you could ever imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The \u201cOceans of Success\u201d field trip included a visit to the aquarium\u2019s ray touch pool.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Before venturing through the aquarium, students were introduced to an eastern indigo snake named \u201cForest\u201d by members of the aquarium\u2019s animal husbandry team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Cindy Butler Focke About 150 VBCPS third, fourth and fifth graders were congratulated at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center on June 6. Superintendent Dr. Donald Robertson Jr. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":14017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-connections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14011"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14028,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14011\/revisions\/14028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}