The upcoming end of the school year was the perfect reason for students from USF St. Petersburg and Fairmount Park Elementary School to hit Tampa Bay recently.
The day brought together students from USFSP’s College of Education and Outdoor Leadership Program and about a dozen high-performing fifth graders from the St. Petersburg-based school.
While serving as a reward for the Fairmount Park students, College of Education Dean Bill Heller said it’s also important that USFSP’s future teachers meet students from all over the area.
“It’s good for our students for to deal with all students, which is kind of the motto we have, every student is an individual student and our students say we deal with all students,” Heller said.
He said that giving the younger students a chance to see Tampa Bay up close is an added bonus.
“Many of them, even though they’re close to this water, they’ve never experienced being on a canoe or being anywhere near the water, the nature like this, and certainly they’ve never had the chance to be in a canoe and paddle, which, for them is really quite an experience,” Heller said.
You can see University Beat TV video of the trip below, check out photos in the slideshow above and hear what one Fairmount Park student got out of his time on the Bay in this week’s University Beat radio report.
-8Tli6s
