On the morning of July 15, 2014, I woke up ready to embark on my journey to the British Virgin Islands with Jesuit's Marine Biology program run by Assistant Principal of Academics Mr. Ben Kirby and biology teacher Dr. Todd Gruninger. It was an early morning, with the group meeting at DFW Airport at 6 a.m. Once everyone arrived,...
Eighty feet below the surface of the ocean, just off the coast of Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands, the RMS Rhone, a 310 foot sunken British packet ship lies still, resting on the sand. After 145 years, the RMS Rhone is teeming with life ranging from corals to stingrays to barracudas. Up at the surface, nineteen Jesuit...
During the sophomore year of our high school experience, 27 classmates and I applied for and received a spot on the Marine Biology I summer course. This course, designed by Dr. Todd Gruninger and Assistant Principal Benjamin Kirby, both Jesuit alumni, required two weeks of summer school classes in Dallas and one week of travel to the British Virgin Islands. ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=082ArdHzvtg
I awoke to my arm burning just as it had done the entire night before, due to the constant sting of the terrible, yet small beast they call the jellyfish. Let me explain how I ended up with this undesirable sensation. I recently embarked on a one week trip to the British Virgin Islands with my classmates for the...
When Jesuit students think of science courses, periodic tables, complex equations, and bug projects probably come to mind. Few, if any, students associate science class with sugar beaches, crystal-clear Caribbean waters, or shipwrecks. But for students enrolled in the Marine Biology science elective this summer, sea and sand will be as much a part of their learning environment as...
For three weeks this summer, a group of Jesuit seniors and juniors participated in our first ever Marine Biology course. Under the instruction of science teachers Mr. Ben Kirby and Dr. Todd Gruninger, students studied the basics of marine biology in the classroom at Jesuit for two weeks before traveling to the beautiful British Virgin Islands.
During the first week,...
