-David Schleck
More than 150 students participated in the Oceans of Success Field Trip at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center as a reward for improving their academic performance this school year.
Students met a skink named Godzilla and a crow named Russell. They watched turtles, sharks and other marine life swim and dive around them. They learned about ecosystems in the Chesapeake Bay and the importance of being good stewards of the environment.
Chris Witherspoon, the aquarium’s vice president of science education, and Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence congratulated the students for earning a spot in the Oceans of Success field trip. The participants included students from grades three through five representing 14 Title 1 schools.
“There’s a reason we call it Oceans of Success,” Spence said. “We’re celebrating your success this school year. You have a lot to be proud of.”
The trip was sponsored by Retired Chief Justice Thomas S. Shadrick of the Virginia Beach Circuit Court, and Jeffrey A. Breit and Kevin Biniazan of Breit Biniazan Trial Lawyers.
Biniazan spoke about how his family moved to the United States from the Middle East, and it wasn’t easy to learn how to speak and read English when he was in kindergarten.
“I was nervous at first,” he said. “Are any of you nervous when you have to read out loud? You’ll learn to overcome that feeling through hard work. I used to practice by reading the newspaper to my grandfather. Now, for a living, all I do is stand in front of people and talk. That’s what attorneys do. And we read a lot, too.”
Several students from Seatack Elementary An Achievable Dream Academy shared some thoughts their favorite parts of the field trip:
- Abigail Cumpston said, “I learned that starfish can camouflage themselves within their environment.”
- Summer Jamison said, “I learned that there are more fish in the Chesapeake Bay in the summer than in the winter.”
- Ja’yziah Wilson said, “My favorite part was touching the stingrays!
