Students in the Academy of Natural R esources at Island Coast High School in Cape Coral, Florida are offered an academically rigorous curriculum following a course sequence of Agriscience Foundations, Aquaculture II , Aquaculture III and Aquaculture IV. These students had the opportunity to learn in the classroom over a four-year program and apply their skills to run a commercial level facility that has grown to feature two indoor vaults systems, various aquaponic systems, and multiple fiberglass finfish tanks. Students are also offered the opportunity to earn the Aquaculture Technician certification through the Florida Aquaculture Association after completing year three of the program. However, maintaining the students' interest and authentic engagement for multiple years can be challenging.
In the beginning the administration and student ownership was easy due to the unique concept of sustainability of producing products with little or no damage to the planet in which we live . This began with hydroponics which utilize minimal water compared to traditional farming techniques. First year students are charged with designing and constructing their own hydroponic system and raising a crop to fruition. Additionally, students learn and practice the fundamentals of aquaculture and raising a basic crop, tilapia. They balance pH, establish and carry out feeding regimes, monitor growth, and encourage reproduction.
Through-out the progression of the Academy , the challenges have been how to continue this ownership in the program. We have learned to incorporate whatever ecological/environmental issue that is the fore-front of the latest news-cycle. By ad dressing the latest issues, we not only engage our students in the issues at hand but challenge them to problem solve and devise solutions. Some of the topics we have addressed over the years include utilizing an invasive species for a positive outcome. Students removed and recycled bamboo to protect juvenile mangroves from wave action when installed in a restoration site to be utilized as shoreline protection and filtration. This project was extended when we involved a local business partner who allowed our students to install mangroves in reef balls to create a natural filtration system at the commercial dock. We were able to extend this project even further with our high school students teaching water quality to local elementary students who were afraid to go into the local gulf waters due to red tide and freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee.
Through these projects, n ot only has aquaculture become a vital part of sustainability in the future, it can also be utilized for solutions to environmental issues that keep out students authentically engaged in aquaculture and becoming stewards of the environment.