Middle school students from Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School enjoyed a visit to the Turtle Hospital while on a trip to the Florida Keys during the first week of their spring break. Pictured top row (l-r): Angelica VanFlorcke of Sapphire, NC, Mo Mescher of Otto, NC, Reese Ward of Franklin, NC, Penelope Hilson of Lakemont, GA, Ella Loveland of Rabun Gap, GA, Evan Thurmond of Rabun Gap, GA, Parker Stribling of Sautee Nacoochee, GA, Meg Bruner of Otto, NC, Savanna Jones of Cashiers, NC, Arabella Nepa of Clayton, GA; Front row (l-r): Stella Vogelbacher of Rabun Gap, GA, Foster Duquette of Clayton, GA, and Kite Stribling, GA of Sautee Nacoochee.
Students from the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School Middle School explored the Florida Keys during Spring Break, March 8 – 15.
Paddleboarding, snorkeling, and salt-water fishing were just a few of the activities that middle schoolers and three faculty members experienced during their trip to warm and sunny Florida during the first week of Rabun Gap’s Spring Break. While temperatures were still on the cold side here in the North Georgia mountains, students soaked up the sun and enjoyed an exciting experiential education trip in the Florida Keys.
The eight-day trip provided numerous opportunities to immerse students in the Florida Key lifestyle and culture. They called a one-acre estate home for the week, equipped with a dock and pool, and enjoyed home-cooked meals after their exciting days. Their activity calendar was packed full of incredible adventures — swimming with dolphins, hand-feeding tarpon, visiting a turtle hospital, and wakeboarding. The group had opportunities to visit a vast array of historical sites in the middle keys, took airboat tours of the Everglades, and even had some time to give back to the community.
The students participated in a community service project for oTHErside Board Sports, an organization that was devastated by hurricane Irma in 2017. In this project, they helped with mulching and maintaining some vegetation that Rabun Gap students had planted last year in an effort to rebuild after the hurricane; they also learned about sustainable agriculture by helping to build organic gardens.
The faculty who chaperoned were Ms. Carrie Kuehne, middle school math teacher, Ms. Nicole Ager, upper school science teacher, and Mr. Johnathan BySura, middle school science teacher and experiential education coordinator. Mr. BySura plans the trip each year and focuses the learning activities around marine ecology.
