Judith Fedinick

Fedinick’s innovative teaching idea, “Our Treasure, Chesapeake Bay,” is designed to explore the health and wealth of the Chesapeake Bay and discover how it affects the lives of students and the larger community on a daily basis. Through this service learning project, students will experience the power of a collaborative, socially responsible community and learn to contribute meaningfully to the world around them. During a year-long collaboration, buddy classes in preschool through eighth grade will each research an aspect of the Bay; collect and share data; and collaborate to build a scale size Chesapeake Bay model. The ultimate goal is to use the model and data to create a larger outdoor classroom model and “learning walk” to educate the community at large. Students will develop research, academic, and social skills as they work to apply information in innovative ways for a meaningful and important purpose. In future years, the expanding project will continue to present opportunities to mentor new students and deepen service learning into new and broader areas.