Oak Park High School is poised to join the efforts of local elementary and middle schools in teaching students the wonders of marine science.

On Aug. 9 and 10, Oak Park Unified School District Superintendent Tony Knight will lead a team of principals, science specialists and other school leaders on a two-day trip to the University of Southern California Wrigley Marine Science Center in the Two Harbors area of Catalina Island.

Knight said the purpose of the trip is to receive training for the marine science program in Oak Park’s kindergarten through eighth grades and establish a new program at the high school.

“We have components in place at the elementary and middle school levels, but we do not have a program at OPHS, and we would very much like to do that,” Knight said.

Some parents voiced their concerns to The Acorn in an anonymous letter signed “Angry in Oak Park.”

The writers complained that the school district should not spend taxpayer money on an “allexpense paid vacation in Catalina” when the state is cutting funding to schools and the district is stretching its budget by allowing out-of-district students to attend local schools.

Knight said the trip for 19 school leaders will cost $1,900, but will not come out of the district’s operating budget. The trip is paid for by a federal grant, he said.

Principals, assistant principals and others plan to attend the twoday training session. The group including two new principals: Oak Park High School Principal Kevin Buchanan and Eric Warren from Oak Hills Elementary School. Buchanan said he was looking forward to the trip and the possibility of creating a new marine science program at the high school.

Knight said the district has not sent administrators to professional development or conferences for several years due to the budget situation. The federal funds are designated specifically for staff training and professional development, he said.

Because Knight is an adjunct professor at USC, the ride to the island is free—the college has its own boat to transport administrators and teachers to the center.

Knight explained that the grant money for the trip was a portion of a grant that was secured years ago.

“We must use (the money) or lose it,” he said. The grant money has paid for staff development such as sending teachers to New York for training at the Columbia University Reading and Writing Project, teacher training for Gifted and Talented Education and special education.

Knight said the district has had an ocean science program at the elementary schools for many years. Fifth-grade students take a field trip to Prisoner’s Harbor on West Santa Cruz Island every year to learn about the ocean and sea life.

Science specialist Debby West prepares the students for the trip starting in the spring of fourth grade by teaching them about natural selection, marine life and other aspects of science and the sea. On the field trip, children learn how to use oceanography tools, including plankton nets, underwater thermometers and bottom samplers.

“On the island we make it a real expedition and look for endemic plants and animals, such as the island scrub jay found only on Santa Cruz Island,” Knight said. “Also, in the Santa Barbara Channel we look for and often see marine mammals such as blue and humpback whales and orca whales.”

At Medea Creek Middle School, marine science is studied on a longer trip to Catalina Island.

“Where we want to build a more substantial program is at OPHS, as well as to enhance programs in (kindergarten through eighth grade),” Knight said. “We have a lot of ideas, including an aquarium program that we want to build with Marineland Research Systems, a local corporation.

“One of the greatest challenges in these economic times is continuing to build and improve our schools in spite of these economic difficulties,” Knight said. “We believe that our parents and community expect that of us.”