Abstract
The island of Key Biscayne is home to two academic institutions that exist just down the street from each other — MAST Academy and the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science (RSMAES). The close proximity of the schools, along with their shared interests in marine science, presented a prime opportunity to develop and maintain a collaborative and educational connection between the two, which was previously underutilized. As part of my MPS Internship, I worked with MAST Academy’s marine science teacher, Mario Wood, to coordinate collaborative educational events (i.e. guest speakers and field trips) held in his classes that would mutually benefit members of MAST Academy and RSMAES. During the seven-month period of my internship, I successfully coordinated and kept a record of eight guest speaker events at MAST Academy and planned four canceled collaborative events covering a wide range of topics in marine science. Along with this, I also created a collaboration guide for Mr. Wood to outline the steps to gain volunteer clearance and contact RSMAES outreach programs to serve as guidance to future interns and allow these collaborations to continue in the future. Student, collaborator, and teacher reception of the program was positive and provided insight into improvements the program should work on in later iterations. Future work in this program is encouraged to promote greater interactivity and engagement elements during guest presentations to improve the student learning experience. Development of a more streamlined and consistent collaborative event schedule throughout the school year facilitated by early outreach is also highly recommended for future versions of the program.