{"id":12249,"date":"2024-06-10T15:15:40","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T19:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=12249"},"modified":"2024-06-10T15:15:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T19:15:40","slug":"students-rewarded-with-aquatic-field-trip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/students-rewarded-with-aquatic-field-trip\/","title":{"rendered":"Students rewarded with aquatic field trip"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
William Larkin spotted a seahorse during the “Oceans of Sucess” field trip at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center on June 7. He was one of about a dozen Luxford Elementary students selected for the event that celebrates improved academic performance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The “Oceans of Success” field trip to the Virginia Aquarium celebrated approximately 150 VBCPS third, fourth and fifth graders’ improved academic performance during the school year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

William Larkin thought it was cool to see a real seahorse. The Luxford Elementary student was one of about 150 special guests to visit the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center on June 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy teachers said I was doing very good work,\u201d the fourth grader said.<\/p>\n

The annual \u201cOceans of Success\u201d field trip was sponsored by retired Virginia Beach Circuit Court Chief Judge Thomas Shadrick, and Kevin Biniazan and Jeffrey Breit of the law firm Breit Biniazan.<\/p>\n

Everyone gathered in the aquarium\u2019s theater before venturing through the exhibits.<\/p>\n

Kevin Biniazan applauded the third through fifth graders from each VBCPS Title 1 elementary school who were selected to attend because of improved academic performance during the school year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you work hard, you can achieve anything you want to achieve,\u201d he told them.<\/p>\n

Aquarium Vice President of Science Education Chris Witherspoon asked the students some questions: \u201cWho likes sea turtles? Who wants to see sharks? Who wants to touch a ray?\u201d<\/p>\n

Many raised their hands.<\/p>\n

They first met Thanos, a 3-year-old red-tailed boa constrictor. The aquarium\u2019s animal ambassador team explained that the reptile is native to the tropical forest areas of South and Central America and could live to age 40, weigh up to 30 pounds and grow to be 13 feet long.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Jenny Morgan attended the “Oceans of Success” field trip to the Virginia Aquarium with her daughter Cam. Approximately 150 VBCPS students were selected to attend because of improved academic performance during the school year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then it was off to explore the world of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and beyond, divided into groups of sharks, sea turtles, crocodiles and sea horses. The self-guided tour provided close-up looks at thousands of animals within educational hands-on habitats, from fish to sea turtles, Komodo dragons, a crocodile, snot otters, hermit crabs and lots more.<\/p>\n

Jenny Morgan watched as the students enthusiastically touched stingrays in the touch-pool area. Morgan said she is grateful her daughter Cam, a Newtown Elementary third grader, was rewarded for working hard this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just proud of who she is becoming and showing how much of a good citizen she is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The young VIPs were also treated to lunch.<\/p>\n

The Point O\u2019 View Elementary crew said the pizza was delicious. Fifth grader Liam Doyle was glad to be chosen for the field trip. \u201cI started practicing more, like fractions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His classmate, Ezequiel Suarez is from Spain, and was chosen to participate in the excursion for the second year. \u201cI feel great like all the hard work is for something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sisters Allyah and Soraya Wheaton, who attend Green Run Elementary, touched a hermit crab while Aquarium youth program coordinator Aleesha Tyree answered their questions during the “Oceans of Success” field trip on June 7.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bayside Elementary gifted resource teacher Heather Schweitzer said the children were \u201c100% excited\u201d about the end of the school year excursion. \u201cThey understand that hard work really pays off and to keep trying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green Run Elementary fifth grader Carter Wiggins asked about the difference in the color of the ocean near the beach and farther out to sea.<\/p>\n

His classmate David Lemos had the answer: \u201cThere\u2019s less sediment farther out,\u201d he said. \u201cWe learned that in class.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their science teacher Michelle Pressley and school counselor Rebecca Pierre-Louis smiled. \u201cWe are letting them see what we learned in person,\u201d Pierre-Louis said. \u201cThey have worked so hard, stayed focused, persevered and didn\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sisters Aniya, left, and Mariyah Martin were among about a dozen Luxford Elementary students chosen for the “Oceans of Success” field trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Seatack Elementary students Lidia Figueroa, left, and Susej Hernandez Aquilera enjoyed the “Oceans of Success” field trip. Their teacher said the English as a Second Language(ESL) students and others deserved to be celebrated for improved academic performance during the school year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The stingray touch pool at the Virginia Aquarium was very popular during the “Oceans of Success” field trip.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

William Larkin thought it was cool to see a real seahorse. The Luxford Elementary student was one of about 150 special guests to visit the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":12257,"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":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12249"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12264,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12249\/revisions\/12264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}