A group of O'Maley Middle School students got a closeup look at marine science — and how it plays into the city's rich marine heritage — this week when they visited the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center on Harbor Loop.
But their visit and the project didn't just the interest of officials with the local schools and the Maritime Center. It also attracted representatives from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge.
The visitors included MIT Professor Kim Vandiver, who leads MIT's Edgerton Center, which is partnering with the Edgerton Center in a science development effort known as the SEA Initiative. Funded through the Gloucester Education Foundation, the aim of the SEA Initiative is to support the mission of the Gloucester Public Schools by enriching and deepening the science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum through the development and implementation of engaging activities that will strengthen students' understanding of and ability to apply key concepts.
A number of high school and middle school teachers have already visited MIT with the aim of introducing ideas developed at the Edgerton Center into the school curriculum.
The Gloucester Education Foundation, backed by private donations, provides funding for a number of school arts, science and other projects
