On the morning of August 21, 2015 Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School students made their way through campus to the gymnasium for the opening chapel of the 2015-2016 school year, welcomed by the grating noises of earth-digging machines and the shouts of construction workers.

The construction team was busy building a new addition to the Saint Stephen’s community: the Marine Science Center.

The Marine Science Center, along with other changes across campus, inspired Head of School Dr. Jan Pullen to make this year’s school theme: “#change,” provoking students, faculty, and the community to embrace and seek out progress.

In recent years the only constant at Saint Stephen’s has been change. The most notable of these adjustments on campus has been the construction of the Moore Athletic Complex, a giant stadium and field space sponsored by the Moore family, who challenged the school community to raise 2 million dollars to match the money donated by them. The property now features a full field house, astroturf field, rubber track, concession, full grandstand, and new baseball and softball fields.

The Marine Science Center is the newest addition. Mrs. Anne Marie Shields, the Science Department Chair and long-time science teacher, said “The new Marine Science Center will provide students with a more direct connection with the ocean and marine organisms. The center’s location next to the McLewis Bayou (the bayou connects to the Manatee River and runs through the heart of the school) will make exploring the ocean environment a daily event. Students will be able to capitalize on the easy access to the water for both planned field studies as  well as spur of the moment investigation.”

The building has a 5,933-square-foot floor plan, with a state of the art wet lab, as well as two indoor classrooms, and a covered outdoor classroom.

Shields added, “The outdoor classroom will provide an area where students who have just com in from a kayak trip or field studies on boats provided by Freedom Boat Club can examine specimens.”

The facility is a $1.5 million project lead-funded by the Moore family, with additional funding coming from Ken Keating and Dr. Betty O’Dell. The building also features an ocean basin map on the floor, where the students will be able to “walk the currents” while they study ocean circulation.

Historically, in marine science, the conventional way of teaching embodies the use of slides, pictures, texts, and experiments in the classroom.

But the center offers something better, as senior Cristina Antonijuan said: “I think it’s hard to really get a grasp on all the sea life because we only see them on power points. Having an entire area dedicated to learning about such a vast area will really help!” The students recognize the need for a more interactive education, one which exposes them to organisms in their natural environment, rather than in secondhand, pictures.

The Marine Science Center is planned to be completed In January 2016. However due to rainfall throughout the autumn the project’s new completion date is February 2016. Final inspections of the facility are being done on February 3rd and by mid-month the building should be open to students and faculty.

The Marine Science Center isn’t the only new connection to the local marine environment. The Saint Stephen’s new crew program is growing rapidly. The program aims to introduce the sport of rowing to the student body. As of now the school only offers training in Sarasota, but on February 1st, boats will be in the water on campus.

Athletic Director Lenny Paoletti said, “The crew team will develop into a varsity program, competing against other schools within Florida. Sarasota is a national hotbed for crew.” Paoletti said.

Although good for most, change can frustrate those who don’t get to take full advantage of the positive progress.  Senior J.T Lund said, “As a Marine Bio Student, I’m a little bit jealous of those who are able to experience it.”