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Canterbury unveils a briny jewel

By Casey Cora, Times Staff Writer
In print: Sunday, September 21, 2008

The new marine studies lab ushers in a unique curriculum that will include touch tanks, technology, exploration of nearby Placido Bayou and Tampa Bay, and partnerships with marine agencies.
	[CHERIE DIEZ | Times]

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ST. PETERSBURG

Debuting with great fanfare Friday, the Marine Studies Education Center at the Canterbury School of Florida drew scores of parents and local dignitaries. • Seventh-grader Ben Kilby just wanted to start dissecting. • "Pretty cool," he said, standing between two 130-gallon aquariums.

Ben, 12, is one of hundreds of Canterbury students who will get to use the school's brand-new facility, on the campus of the school's Knowlton Campus at 990 62nd Ave. NE.

An aquamarine mural presides over the laboratory, which features state-of-the-art technology, including a weather station with a flat-panel TV and a SMART board, a sort of hybrid whiteboard and digital projector.

Outside, kayaks will help students explore nearby Placido Bayou, which feeds into Tampa Bay, a geographical advantage that school officials say makes Canterbury's new center unlike any other.

"It's a gift in that they're so close to our natural habitat," said Dan Otis, who heads the new marine science program. "There's a lot of things we can simply observe by stepping out the door."

Already, Otis has implemented environmental and habitat restoration projects for his students, a goal he hopes to continue. The added center only makes his programs better, he said.

"We want to involve as many students as we can, to get them out into a marine environment and teach them about what they're observing," Otis said.

But the real draw, at least Friday, was the trio of "touch tanks" inside the lab, three aquariums filled with sea life from different parts of the country.

Marina Shimer, 12, reached in to a cold-water tank and touched a starfish with her bare hand.

That doesn't scare her?

"Nope," she said, gently placing the starfish in a new spot.

After Friday's ribbon-cutting, donors and local officials toured the new facility. One was particularly mesmerized.

"If it wasn't a wow, I didn't want to be involved," said Norm Dobiesz, of the Phoenix Venture Philanthropy Foundation, the organization responsible for a large chunk of donations to the center. "It's a wow."

Casey Cora can be reached at ccora@sptimes.com.