Aquarena education program seeks new location | University Star
Aquarena education program seeks new locationPosted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 11:28 am | By Teresa Wilburn
News Aquarena Center education services reconstruction
The demolition of the Aquarena Center is approaching, and the educational program that has made an impact on environmental excursions in Texas is forced to find a new venue.
The visitors center and surrounding buildings, the site of instructional nature classes, will be torn down, said Sonja Mlenar, coordinator of instructional programs at Aquarena.
More than 30,000 scheduled field trips take place every year at the center, and 60,000 individuals not related to the program will come visit the site, said Ron Coley, director of the Aquarena Center.
We deal with visitors all the way from pre-K to elders, Coley said. We provide that educational experience by starting with a staff of about 50 undergraduates being managed, instructed and led by graduate students. Our educational mission starts with teaching those kids, the undergraduate students, how to interpret this natural resource.
Students are not the only guests who benefit from learning about the natural springs. Coley said Aquarena provides continuing education for teachers and elders, about 10,000 individuals annually, who want to learn more.
An adequate site must be found to house the next visitors center. The facility which will house the educational program is unknown.
It is not guaranteed the university will be able to provide a facility to support the program, said Coley.
Coley said the goal is to host programs that will be adaptable to the not-yet designated facility.
It is going to create some interesting challenges, he said. We might work out of tents, but the boats will not go away. The abundance of wildlife will not go away. The people wanting to learn will not go away. But where we will pick up our mail and where we hang up our coats will be a challenge. At this point, there will need to be a temporary plan or temporary solution so we can resolve those questions.
The next step will be to figure out how to operate the environmental educational programs once demolition is done, said Andrew Sansom, executive director of the River Systems Institute.
I do not think we can fully predict what happens during construction, he said. I would like to devise a way to keep the environmental education program going strong.
Mlenar has worked for the center for the past three years. She said the plan for the center is to keep going, but they will need a place to organize and make tour schedules.
Right now it is all up in the air, Mlenar said. I think it is definitely going to be different. They are not going to have indoor space and that is one of my concerns. If it rains, the kids will not have a place to eat lunch or do activities. All of the buildings that we use for that are going to be demolished.
Mlenar said the reconstruction of Aquarena will affect the people who work there more than the future visitors.
I am assuming that all outdoor activities, including the boardwalk and the aquarium, will still exist, she said.
The future in field trips may look gloomy for students wanting to visit post-demolition, but Coley is confident the educational programs will continue to succeed.
I am not very worried about it, Coley said. We live in a very interesting time. There is no guarantee that this program will continue.
Coley said he is concerned with the people who work at the center.
We all have a different concern, he said. My position is that as long as the people we have here are knowledgeable and enthusiastic, we are going to provide an outstanding experience for our visitors.
Published in University Star, October 29, 2008, Volume 98, No. 27
Aquarena education program seeks new locationPosted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 11:28 am | By Teresa Wilburn
News Aquarena Center education services reconstruction
The demolition of the Aquarena Center is approaching, and the educational program that has made an impact on environmental excursions in Texas is forced to find a new venue.
The visitors center and surrounding buildings, the site of instructional nature classes, will be torn down, said Sonja Mlenar, coordinator of instructional programs at Aquarena.
More than 30,000 scheduled field trips take place every year at the center, and 60,000 individuals not related to the program will come visit the site, said Ron Coley, director of the Aquarena Center.
We deal with visitors all the way from pre-K to elders, Coley said. We provide that educational experience by starting with a staff of about 50 undergraduates being managed, instructed and led by graduate students. Our educational mission starts with teaching those kids, the undergraduate students, how to interpret this natural resource.
Students are not the only guests who benefit from learning about the natural springs. Coley said Aquarena provides continuing education for teachers and elders, about 10,000 individuals annually, who want to learn more.
An adequate site must be found to house the next visitors center. The facility which will house the educational program is unknown.
It is not guaranteed the university will be able to provide a facility to support the program, said Coley.
Coley said the goal is to host programs that will be adaptable to the not-yet designated facility.
It is going to create some interesting challenges, he said. We might work out of tents, but the boats will not go away. The abundance of wildlife will not go away. The people wanting to learn will not go away. But where we will pick up our mail and where we hang up our coats will be a challenge. At this point, there will need to be a temporary plan or temporary solution so we can resolve those questions.
The next step will be to figure out how to operate the environmental educational programs once demolition is done, said Andrew Sansom, executive director of the River Systems Institute.
I do not think we can fully predict what happens during construction, he said. I would like to devise a way to keep the environmental education program going strong.
Mlenar has worked for the center for the past three years. She said the plan for the center is to keep going, but they will need a place to organize and make tour schedules.
Right now it is all up in the air, Mlenar said. I think it is definitely going to be different. They are not going to have indoor space and that is one of my concerns. If it rains, the kids will not have a place to eat lunch or do activities. All of the buildings that we use for that are going to be demolished.
Mlenar said the reconstruction of Aquarena will affect the people who work there more than the future visitors.
I am assuming that all outdoor activities, including the boardwalk and the aquarium, will still exist, she said.
The future in field trips may look gloomy for students wanting to visit post-demolition, but Coley is confident the educational programs will continue to succeed.
I am not very worried about it, Coley said. We live in a very interesting time. There is no guarantee that this program will continue.
Coley said he is concerned with the people who work at the center.
We all have a different concern, he said. My position is that as long as the people we have here are knowledgeable and enthusiastic, we are going to provide an outstanding experience for our visitors.
Published in University Star, October 29, 2008, Volume 98, No. 27
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