By Jack Voight, Sports Editor
When’s the last time you splashed in the sound or went diving with sharks in your classroom? Thanks to First Flight’s internship program, several students are getting to do just that – and a whole lot more – as they work with ecological businesses.
“I’ve always enjoyed this kind of stuff and I just felt like it would be a really cool internship and I could learn a bunch of new and cool things,” said senior Kenny Crawford, who has been interning at the Coastal Studies Institute in Wanchese. “We just finished with a project on the erosion with the sound and how the marsh islands are disappearing.”
Crawford isn’t the only intern who works in Wanchese and worries about the environment. Senior Gabe Long also takes time out of his day to go and work in the field over the bridge for the Coastal Federation, a non-profit organization that works to protect the North Carolina coast.
“I noticed a lot of ocean pollution following Hurricane Dorian,” Long said.
Some students are even interning in places you may not even think would need a couple of environmental saviors. Seniors Gage Bernard and Barritt Grizzard are working with Jockey’s Ridge State Park, a place most locals just know as a sunset destination.
“We’ll go drive around the dune and see if any major sand has shifted,” Bernard said. “Last weekend we actually cut down an invasive species of plants that were harming other plants in the area.”
While these students go out in the field to help keep the environment safe and collect data for models, senior Dean Torchia has a bit more hands-on work at the North Carolina Aquarium in Manteo, a job that many kids may have dreamed of doing since they were in elementary school.
“I do touch pools and I (will be) diving in the big shark tank,” Torchia said. “You have to do lots of cool dives and training with the sharks so you know your surroundings.”
It may sound like all fun and games to soon be diving with sharks, but Torchia said there will be some difficulties that come with the job.
“You have to clean it,” he explained.
Growing up in a beach community, the state of the environment has been a priority in the eyes of many students. Getting hands-on educational experiences at these internships has only strengthened their resolve to make a difference in the community.
“I kind of want to go into something with marine research or marine studies in college, so I think this will help.” Crawford said.
Junior Jack Voight can be reached at 21voightja99@daretolearn.org.
