We’re Live- from under the sea!
Greetings from the Texas Children’s Cancer Center!
This past Thursday marked the culmination of months of planning and preparation. It was finally time for Purple Songs to Swim! The days beforehand were busy with final checks and preparations to ensure that the space was ready for all of our activities and the two giant television screens set up to host the live videoconference with Aquarius. We were so excited! Thanks Dominic, Jim and Jesus for setting up all of the technical configurations to get us to live.
Finally the day arrived and, after a morning of dancing, singing and crafts in honor of our “under the sea” theme, it was time for the kids to go live with Aquarius. The link up went incredibly smoothly and we found ourselves face to face with Otto at the galley table. The smiles on the kids faces and their excitement was uncontrollable! Otto joked that he would have to turn down the volume on his receiving end because we were making such a commotion with all of our clapping and excitement, as the kids waved to the “undersea explorers.” It was such a special experience for them to get a glimpse of life under the sea and the work being done by NOAA scientists. It was especially fun for them to get a special tour of the habitat from Otto and see how aquanauts live and work underwater. Having the live conference setup was really neat. The kids had great questions for the aquanauts and continued to talk with me long after the live linkup as they had more questions about the ARB, and it was fun for me to see their excitement.
Probably the most special part of the day, however, was when the kids got to hear their music played underwater. Zach, whose song “That’s why I don’t eat fish” inspired me to arrange this day in the first place, was present to talk with the Aquanauts and share his passion for marine science and desire to be a proponent of the oceans in his work. A huge smile erupted on his face as he heard his music being played 60 feet underwater in Aquarius, along with several other songs. I can’t think of a better way to honor these kids and their expression than by sharing these beautiful songs, which the aquanauts have really enjoyed listening to during the mission.
This is just another example of how the work in education and conservation being done at the ARB connects on so many levels to the greater community and I was just tickled to be able to share my work and experiences at NURC with these kids. It was a very enjoyable time for everyone and such a special time for the kids to have this rare glimpse into the undersea world and the work of these scientists. We may even have inspired some future scientists! More importantly, however, we were able to create a special experience for these kids to honor them and create a reprieve for them to just be like any other kid - - playing and exploring.
To say the mission was a success would be a huge understatement!
Cassia Rye
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