35th Anniversary Reunites First Center Students

It was like 35 years hadn't even gone by.Beth Carr Strack and James Mason met for the second time since they first came to the Environmental Studies Center in October 1972 and their conversation never skipped a beat in remembering the Wet Lab, the classrooms, their studies.

What's even more ironic.They both work on the Fort Pierce campus of Indian River Community College, Mason as a computer / graphics professor and Carr as the Campus Administrator for the Florida State University Medical Program.

With its 35 th anniversary year during this school year, Strack provided a Stuart News clipping from October 1972 that showed her and Mason looking through a fish tank at hermit and spider crabs.Mason also saved a copy of the article, which shows him as a fifth grader on the front page of the newspaper.Stuart News was an afternoon weekly at the time.

As they describe it, the Center had just opened and the teachers were testing out curriculum they had written for the school.They selected several students from Jensen Beach Elementary School to serve as "guinea pigs."

The teachers included Ella "Mike" Clark, Olive Ashby and Frank Pittman, all retired from teaching now.While Clark lives in Arizona, Ashby and Pittman have both turned out for several Center anniversary events during this school year.

The Martin County School District had just received a five-year federal grant to develop an environmental education school, which was an innovative concept for the time period.Just two years before, the country celebrated its first Earth Day and in Martin County, this became known as the Age of Environmentalism.

Among the first activities, according to Mason, was seining and taking water samples from the Indian River Lagoon and seeing and touching some of the creatures in the Web Lab.The experience peaked his interest and besides his love of water and outdoor activities, he attended the then-Jensen Beach Campus of Florida Institute of Technology where he received an associate's degree in oceanography.That then led to five years as a Martin County lifeguard.

"Still today fishing, diving, sailing, surfing, windsailing are all my interests," said Mason, who has the blond hair to match."I'm a water man."

Mason finished his degree at the University of Central Florida where he studied business management. Today, he teaches engineering graphics, digital media, animation and videography and has been on the faculty for 10 years.

"Without a doubt, every kid should be exposed to this program," Mason said."The value that I got from being here I wish every kid could experience so that they are aware of the fragile environment we live in."

Strack agrees with Mason's assessment.While she only came for a few days, she remembers that time well and now shares the memories with her brother, Charlie Carr, who is the newest teacher to join the Center staff, and her children, who have attended regular classes, summer camp and Camp WET over the years.

Strack transferred to the then-new St. Joseph School for seventh and eighth grades and graduated Martin County High School.There were no Center high school programs available, except by special arrangement.

"One of the biggest things I remember is Mr. Pittman showing us mangrove seedlings, but not telling us what they were.He sent us home to figure it out and no one knew what it was," she said.

From there, Beth developed an interest in science and analytical thinking and of course, coming from a large family growing up in Martin County, she enjoys the outdoors, boating, native plants and animals.

"I've seen the value of the Center with my own children when they started going through the program, went to summer camp and Camp WET," she said."It's invaluable for children to appreciate and learn the program and eventually, careers can develop out of this."

She added, "The Center is a classic example of making science more fun.The teachers love what they do and that makes for a better learning experience."