Will Stewart & his science class prep

Nine Olney High School students are headed for Belize this spring for a first-ever international OHS science trip after they met their fundraising goal on Jan. 6, OHS science teacher Will Stewart said.

Over the past seven months, the students - Richard Walp, Taaron Scrogum, Peyton Valdez, Cole Turner, Justin Simmons, Aby Marquez, Gatlin Guy, Cate Rodriguez, and Colin Mason - raffled off donated prizes, held a car wash, earned matching funds in a river cleanup project, waited tables at a teachers’ dinner for tips, and found sponsors among local and out-oftown businesses and individuals, said Mr. Stewart. The students raised more than $30,000 to fund their study trip to three separate ecosystems, and are now set to depart on March 9, he said. “We are sending in the rest of the payment this month,” Mr. Stewart said. “At that point, everybody has their passports, and all the paperwork is turned in.”

The trip was limited to students who are taking Mr. Stewart’s dual science classes in biology or anatomy and physiology, meaning they will earn college and high school credit simultaneously in the two-semester classes. The curriculum by the nonprofit Ecology Project International Belize [EPI] calls for the students to be instructed by experts in rainforest, freshwater stream, and coastal ecosystems, Mr. Stewart said.

The students are believed to be the first from Olney High School to travel internationally for a science study trip, using approved field methods to collect, identify and monitor different species of concern in biodiversity hotspots, Mr. Stewart said.

“We are super excited to go and we are extremely thankful to all the donors who contributed prizes to the raffles, and the businesses who helped us out through the fundraisers,” he said.