At Risk Youth Program
GSML has worked with local and state law enforcement agencies to allow local youth to complete court ordered community service hours. Teenagers work one on one with GSML staff in aquarium maintenance such as feeding the animals and seawater system operation. In addition to their work, they are required to review available information and write a paper about marine life. The combination of work, individual mentoring, academic study, and time spent interacting with animals they have never before experienced provides a unique venue to engage the imagination of these at risk teens. The program serves about 20 individuals per year with approximately 1000 hours per year of community service completed. Director Jack Rudloe has been a longstanding member of the Wakulla County Juvenile Justice Commission.
| "In my experiences at community service with Jack Rudloe at Gulf Specimen Marine Lab I have learned about many different levels of marine life from Sharks to small algea. I have also seen sea creatures that I have never seen before and probably will not see again on a daily basis. I also learned about the dangers of driving without a drivers liscense and no tag with an illegal substance in my possesion. So I have learned things about living organism of the sea and about putting myself in bad situations." |
GULF SPECIMEN MARINE LAB • PO BOX 237 • PANACEA, FL 32346 USA • (850) 984-5297 • FAX (850) 984-5233
