Breakthrough was recently sponsored by the Croul Family Foundation through the Adopt-A-Class program at the Ocean Institute. Saturday afternoon, Breakthrough students met up at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point for a marine mammal cruise. Joining us on the cruise was Dan Stetson, former Ocean Institute President and current Executive Director at The Nicholas Endowment.
The Adopt-A-Class program was established in 2001 and has served 10,000 underserved students in the 2015-2016 school year. Headed by Adopt-A-Class Manager Shira Greenbaum, students saw plenty of ocean life and were able to get some hands-on experience in taking and viewing samples under a microscope. According to Shira, “when [the Ocean Institute] started having sponsorship classes, it was great to see how excited the students were and for them to experience things for the first time.”
During the cruise, the students spotted a blue whale en route to Alaska swimming up from Baja California! They also saw a pod of hundreds of dolphins, sea lions, and various birds. The friendly staff at the Ocean Institute helped our students take samples of the sea floor and plankton while informing them on the various species of ocean animals and the importance of keeping our oceans clean.
Thank you to the Ocean Institute, the Croul Family Foundation, and The Nicholas Endowment for your generosity and support.
