If teachers can't fly, don't tell Lundie 



Back during the heat of July 

 someone asked UNC Sea Grant Direc- 

 tor B.J. Copeland what Lundie 

 Spence was doing these days. His 

 reply? "The last time I saw Lundie, 

 she was wading through the marsh 

 wearing her bathing suit and big straw 

 hat and flapping her arms like a bird. 

 Behind her were fifteen teachers doing 

 exactly the same thing." 



Those who meet Lundie Spence 

 rarely forget her boisterous enthusiasm 

 or her echoing cackle. They go with a 

 go-get-em attitude that makes her job 

 as UNC Sea Grant's marine education 

 specialist, well, special. 



Lundie travels from the mountains 

 to the coast of North Carolina, ped- 

 dling marine education, and her 

 enthusiasm for the marine environ- 

 ment spreads like a brush fire. She'll 

 have you feeling an eel, tasting shark 

 or wading knee-deep in a salt marsh 

 before you have a chance to decline. 



Photo by Kathy Hart 



Lundie's not keen on negatives. On 

 the job she neither takes nor gives no 

 for an answer. There is always a way. 

 And that way has meant more marine 

 education for teachers and students 

 alike. 



Lundie helps teachers and science 

 coordinators introduce and organize 

 marine-education curriculums and 

 materials. She also works with 

 vocational teachers, especially along 

 the coastal counties, to introduce 

 marine fields — boatbuilding, 

 aquaculture and fishing — to the 

 vocational student. 



But it takes more than hard work to 

 make marine education catch fire. It 

 takes a spark. And many educators 

 believe Lundie has been that spark in 

 North Carolina. 



She has planted the idea of marine 

 education among science and 

 vocational coordinators in school 

 systems like Charlotte-Mecklenburg, 



Guilford and Pamlico. She fed the idea 

 by conducting workshops among 

 teachers, and by supplying 

 enthusiasm, ideas and materials. At 

 last the idea blossomed as teachers 

 carried marine education back to the 

 classroom, where they captured the in- 

 terest of students through coastal field 

 trips and classroom exercises. 



Mary Kearns, science supervisor for 

 Guilford County's schools, says Lun- 

 die has worked with both teachers and 

 students in her school system to in- 

 crease their knowledge of the coast. 

 "She has shown us some neat things 

 that really bring the coast to the 

 classroom," Kearns says. "We've 

 learned how to teach our students to 

 graph the ocean floor without ever 

 leaving the school. 



"I feel like it is very important to 

 learn about the marine environment. 

 Most of our children go to the coast for 

 vacation. They need to know there are 



■ .... ■ 



Lundie and third graders encounter the secrets of marine science at Underwood Elementary School 



