Gulf Shores, Ala. – (OBA) – By the end of April, seven students at Gulf Shores High School and Gulf Shores Middle School Assistant Principal, Brittney Reeves, will receive open water scuba certification through a grant program paid for by Gulf Coast Resource, Conservation and Development Council.

In May, a group of about 16 elementary and middle schoolers from Gulf Shores will complete the same training along with three teachers, this time paid for with a different grant, the Alabama Career Tech Middle Grades STEM Grant.

“We wrote a grant proposal last summer with Gulf Coast RC&D and submitted that for our 'Small Town, Big Garden' sustainability project,” Academies and Career Tech Coordinator Jessica Sampley said. “We wrote scuba scholarships into that grant also. Krista Marcum who does our environmental science program, the oyster gardening. She and I worked on that grant together.”

This is the second year for the Gulf Coast RC&D grant which has paid for numerous special programs including the successful and growing "Small Town, Big Garden" initiative and its ancillary programs now thriving at the high school.

“We have quite a large amount of money dedicated to our gardening initiative including hydroponics and aquaponics,” Sampley said. “We are going to be building pollinator gardens and do a research project at the middle school and elementary as well.”

Others include about $30,000 dedicated to space camp scholarships which with the grant can now cover all the students’ cost to attend.

“I think the plan this year is to fully fund each child’s fees for that,” Sampley said.

Additionally, there is about $10,000 set aside for field experiences for fifth graders teaching sustainability through the STEAM program at the elementary school.

“They will be going to places like Flightworks, some of our local farms, oyster farms as well,” Sampley said. “We purchased a flight simulator for the elementary school. We purchased one last year for the middle school with the same grant.”

And, while the scuba scholarships are just a part of the overall grant applications, they’ve proven to be quite a popular choice for students.

“Last year at this point I was trying to think of other opportunities we could offer to our students that connect with our community and also give them a skill that they can have for a lifetime,” Sampley said. “It also focuses on our wellness initiative and sustainability as well. We talked about just doing snorkeling but we said let’s go for scuba. We ended up getting over $20,000 for scuba approved between both grants.”

Initially, it was five student scholarships and one teacher scholarship with Down Under Dive Shop. But Sampley said because of the interest and quality of the candidates applying the program was slightly expanded from five students to seven and one teacher.

“By the end of April, they’ll have their PADI certification,” Sampley said. “They must pass everything, their open water dive and their pool skills.”

When writing the grant application from the Alabama Career Tech, Sampley said scuba scholarships for fifth through eighth graders was included as a part of the request.

“We found out in February we received another Alabama Career Tech middle grades grant for $200,000,” Sampley said. “We wrote into that grant scuba scholarships as well. And, about $5,000 or so to purchase a classroom set, snorkeling equipment, masks, fins. Through that grant the focus is on sustainability and STEAM but it is for middle grades five through eight. With the amount of money that we received, scuba is just one part of it.”

The start date for the course will be announced once scholarship recipients are chosen. Classes typically meet on Wednesday and Friday evenings, and open water dives take place on a weekend. Parents are responsible for getting the children to and from the dive shop, Bodenhamer Center pool, Vortex Springs and the beach. The course includes online and in-person classes as well and takes about two weeks to complete.