KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers portions of eastern Jackson County, including areas like Blue Springs and Independence. If you have a story idea to share, send an email to Claire at claire.bradshaw@kshb.com.
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Inside Blue Springs South High School, there is an ecosystem being cared for daily by students and staff.
The Blue Springs Education Foundation paid for the 470-gallon saltwater aquarium, which is full of learning opportunities.
With help from a Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium partnership, students get hands-on experiences.
“It started as just, let's, let's grow coral for fun. But it's really cool because this went from just being a fun passion project to being the absolute best real-world learning experience that I've ever been a part of as an educator,” said instruction coach Amber Roberts.
Starting in 2019, it took a few years of planning to find the right spot. Growing coral takes time and requires the perfect conditions.
“If we see a little extra algae growing, or if we notice that maybe there's some type of a species that's out of balance in the tank, it's a really good opportunity for both the teachers and the students to work together to try to figure out what's going on and how do we solve this problem,” Roberts said.
The zoo plays the role of mentor when needed. Alex Hiroto, the zoo’s aquarium manager, steps in to assist when the school needs it.
Hiroto said partnerships like this are important in landlocked states.
“Coral propagation and coral restoration efforts within the zoo and aquarium industry, and within ACA as a whole, are really, really important topics right now, especially with everything going on in Florida and the Caribbean with stony coral tissue loss disease," Hiroto said. "So having students that are interested in getting experience in this moving forward would ultimately be really beneficial for the environment."
This aquarium is used for classes, shown off during field trips and is also an afterschool club, which is how sophomore Chloe Rennison got involved.
She now spends ample time feeding fish and caring for the tank.
“It's great to learn about a new career opportunity that you could have," Rennison said. "It's great to learn just about how applying to science, like I never was really that into science, but the application of testing the water and seeing our coral grow is really, I don't know, it's really cool."
Someday, the school hopes to grow large enough coral to send to the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium.
