A chance to attend a residential Marine Ecology Course in Little Cayman with the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI)? Yes please! Since 2009, more than 600 primary school students across the Cayman Islands have participated in this immersive three-day, two-night field trip to Little Cayman. Course participants live at the CCMI Research Centre and learn first-hand more about the oceans.

Thanks to an anonymous donor, three classes from government primary schools will receive this experience at no cost in the fall of 2018. To determine which classes are selected for these expenses-paid courses, CCMI is running a contest starting this month, inviting classes from years 5 and 6 at the government schools to participate. Interested classes should submit in a creative format how much it would mean to the class to visit CCMI in Little Cayman for the all-expense paid three-day long Marine Ecology Course. Submissions can be anything from a recorded song the class writes and sings together, a poem written and read aloud by the class, an ocean themed mural painted by the students or even a class beach clean-up with a creative sign made from the debris. The CCMI team encourages students to get creative, and they look forward to seeing how students can express this sentiment.

Dr Carrie Manfrino, President and Director of Research & Conservation at CCMI, is pleased that supporters recognize the extraordinary value in offering a residential field-based marine experience to local students enrolled in government schools. “For many, the costs to attend such a programme with the flights, accommodations, food and more may is an insurmountable barrier to participation. CCMI has been able to offer hundreds of children full scholarships over the last 10 years thanks to amazing support by this donor. Because of their passion for this programme, 60 students will receive in-depth access to learning about oceans and coral reefs this year.”

The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, 20th June. Submissions can be uploaded to Dropbox, with the link sent to [email protected]. CCMI judges will announce the winners on Friday, 22nd June.