by Brody Dixon

This year at Southeast, the school welcomed a new science course: Oceanography. The course explores physical, chemical, geological and biological oceanography. 

In previous years, the concepts in the class were integrated into other classes across the science curriculum through courses such as Earth and Environmental Science as well as Chemistry. However, this school year, Oceanography has become its own class. 

    Currently, Southeast is the only school in the Alamance-Burlington School System (ABSS) that is offering Oceanography. Ms. Murray, who is the course's teacher, stated that she was most excited about simply having the opportunity to teach it. 

“I have a background in marine science, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that Oceanography is in the ABSS course manual even though we are not [located on] the coast” she said. 

However, approaching teaching this course did not come without a learning curve. “Teaching a course for the first time is a lot like building a plane in the air while flying it. [You] are always revising and trying to find ways to make things better, so the work is never truly done, Murray said.

Despite the hard work, Ms. Murray remains passionate about teaching this class and what its future holds. “Maybe this class will inspire the next Jacques Cousteau or Sylvia Earle… you never know, but mainly I’m hoping the class can remain as a science elective for years to come” she stated. 

The class has been met with great enthusiasm from students. Grace Berchulc, an 11th grade student, expressed that what initially piqued her interest in the class “was the fact that over 70% of the world is covered by water and that so much of it is unexplored." She said, “Going into the class, I expected it to be very informative and go into detail about the various components that are included in the ocean." 

Although the semester has already started, there is still so much to look forward to. “I am most excited to learn about the various organisms in the ocean and their relationships to one another” Grace stated, saying that she has already learned so much about the exploration of the ocean."  This class has broadened the science curriculum here at Southeast, and it is sparking new interests among students and, possibly, inspiring them for years to come.