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2 Answers Indian River County (IRC) is located in the middle of the most productive loggerhead nesting beach area in the U.S. and Western Hemisphere. All residents of 1RC live only up to 15 minutes from a beach no matter where their home may be, yet many do not know any of the ecological treasures this place has to offer. Our beaches are beginning to be over developed, surrounded by lights and buried in trash. The county has 13 public elementary schools (eight of which are Title 1). The County was a recipient of the original Traveling Turtles Trunk which is currently being utilized in 5tri grade science classrooms. Students from these 13 schools get organized into 4 public middle schools where they are challenged with applied curriculum, especially in the fields of STEM. After elementary school students do not have mandatory field trips to learn and experience coastal wildlife. This new lighting trunk is perfect for challenging our 7th grade students with a hands-on opportunity to understand real-life threats to sea turtles and to apply their knowledge about the human dimension of the coastal environment to create an innovative way to fix and manage these threats. Hands-on opportunities like this can supplement this lack of interaction with a nearby -critical coastal habitat. In addition. everyone knows that children are some of the most influential people in the world and still have passion and a drive to make their surrounding area better. One of the ways the county began making efforts to biologically improve their coastline is though the implementation of the Habitat Conservation Plan, specifically designed to improve nesting habitat for sea turtles. The HCP was implemented in 2005 and in 2015 the HCP coordinator expanded the management program to include education and public outreach using multiple venues. If accepted for this new sea turtle lighting trunk program the County will be able to enhance its education program and get our youth more involved in local conservation and STEM related fields. Yes. Staff does have a relationship with the local school district which began in 2015 in concert with the beginning of marine conservation presentations given to 5th graders. This presentation was aligned with the 5th grade adaptations curriculum and taught students about sea turtle and marine mammal biology, the difference between inherited and taught traits, and specific adaptations for sea turtle survival. These relationships were developed by first reaching out to school Principals and AP then through contact with the science teachers. This relationship grew in the 16/17 school year by expanding the number of schools which received a presentation and the start of the Florida's Traveling Turtle Trunk Prograrn with the original 6 elementary schools who started the County -School relationship. 3. As the answer to the previous question described, currently the IR Sea Turtle Program education team made up of multiple volunteers and one county staff member who gave presentations about marine conservation and adaptations to 5th grade students at six schools in the county during the 15-16 school year and three more during the 16-17 school year, four of which were TITLE 1 schools. These were wildly successful and requests for visits the following school year were made by ail teachers. Pre/Post tests were administered to students and are currently being graded and analyzed to answer the question "Was there any information learned during the presentation?" Additionally the 16-17 school year was the first year of the traveling trunk program. This is a 3 -year grant and will be continued during the 17-18 school year. An additional trunk had to be purchased by Indian River County to supply enough schools with the successful program. 4. The project leader will be Kendra Cope. the HCP/Sea Turtle Coordinator for IRC. She is a recipient of the Florida's Traveling Turtle Trunk Grant in 2016 and has been successful in fostering relationships with the teachers of the 13 public elementary schools in the school district. She also created a presentation that is given to 5th grade students about conservation and adaptations. Her background is with general public education programs. Her MS thesis analyzed the community impacts (economic and long-term education/behavior) of the popular turtle walks. She is also started a successful program in 1RC during the 2016 nesting season called "Turtle Digs". which are public nest evaluations in the City of Vero Beach.