It has come to my attention that the project, attached, in which students from Anacostia High School in Washington, DC, as part of a year long water monitoring student initiative of the Anacostia River does not now have funding. Ms Brenda Gadd, Director of the Little Cayman Research Centre (LCRC), Ms Carrie Manfrino, President of the Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI), and Guerilla Educators have developed the project as a template that can be used for students from Oakland to Detroit to DC. The Anacostia students are scheduled to travel to LCRC on Little Cayman Island for a week in February to study reef systems and island habitats as part of a year long "we all live downstream" water monitoring study of the Anacostia River System. Their work will be academically, scientifically, and socially rigorous, technology driven, and FUN. The Friendship Charter Schools CAO thought he had secured the $25,000 to send 20 students to CCMI, but this is apparently not the case at this time. Funding for such a transformative project to involve historically under-represented DC students in NOAA type work is, to be colloquial, a "no brainer". All of which to say that if there is an angel who would support this project, the money would be put to very good use on behalf of a hard working group of inner city DC teens. I know this is a real long shot with such a short turn-around time but the return in terms of civic/academic/scientific leadership development of these students is enormous so it is worth that shot.
Thank you for your time.
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