In spite of a difficult economy, ACA’s National Conference hosted international     participants from Venezuela, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Poland, Canada, China, and Japan.  Thanks to ACA’s national President, Peter Surgenor, and CEO, Peg Smith, for hosting internationals at a special reception on the opening night of the Conference. 

Seacamp Tour, Big Pine Key, Florida – February 12-15, 2009
Elena Istomina, Seacamp International Coordinator
Our tour group — Tulshig Tuvshin, Mongolia; Chultem Byambasuren, Mongolia; Ivan Jargalsaikhan, Mongolia; Sako Tanaka, Japan; and Hiroaki Sugihara, Japan –  arrived at Seacamp at about 2:00 a.m. February 12, 2009. After a late breakfast, there was a property tour and a snorkel workshop in our swim canal. For all of them, it was the first snorkeling experience ever. Sako was the most experienced      swimmer, having taught swimming before. She was the first to jump into the water and the last to leave. After lunch, the group met with the Seacamp administration for a talk about our school and summer programs. In the afternoon, everyone went to Hemingway’s museum in Key West and later in the evening had dinner in the historic port in an authentic fish house. During the next day, the group observed the Seacamp school program in action and went on a boat trip to the coral heads. Later that Friday, our international participants joined a weekend teachers’ workshop, an annual Seacamp event offering educational sessions in marine science and tropical ecosystems for science teachers. Our Japanese and Mongolian friends had a chance to watch a slide presentation about the Florida Keys and observe the Marine Investigation lab. On Saturday morning our guests met with the Seacamp Marketing Director and talked about marketing strategies and techniques before departing for Orlando to join the Central Florida Camp Tour.