Service Trip to Belize

Villa Maria science teacher, Mrs. Keglovitz, organized a trip for Villa students to Belize during spring break in early April 2023. Activities included spending a morning collecting and cataloging trash on the protected reef for the National Geographic Foundation, and reef and mangrove forest snorkels, where they observed vibrant sea horses, sharks, barracuda, parrot fish, and more amazing sea life. 

The students also experienced a night snorkel and a reef sampling snorkel. They collected data on coral bleaching and infection by diving down and examining color change in the different types of coral and uploading the data to the reef protection site. The students searched for macroinvertebrates for a river study, participated in night bat captures, tracked white lipped mad turtles, met a scorpion, and formulate their own research projects.

The trip was featured in Suburban Life Magazine.