This student at right took the boat to Catalina Island with his classmates to study science at the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies.

The youngsters are members of Island Explorers, a USC Neighborhood Outreach-funded program that uses a multi-sensory teaching method to introduce students to the fundamentals of marine science. Whether scrutinizing tiny plant and animal life under a microscope or watching a movie about the life cycle of plankton, students are studying the ecosystem of Catalina Island and the San Pedro Channel.

In addition to marine science, the Island Explorer hands-on curriculum exposes students to geology, chemistry, careers in the marine sciences field, pollution and recycling.

The program, which began as a pilot project in 1996, received a 1997-1998 grant of $38,484 from the USC Neighborhood Outreach program, a 10 percent increase over the initial funding.

Also, the funding now covers four of the USC Family of Five Schools. In 1996, only Foshay Learning Center participated in the pilot project.

The 3-year-old program is trying something new this year, said Sea Grant Education Program Coordinator Lynn Whitley. During the school year, parents or mentors of 24 students will join their youngsters studying life’s ancient birthplace, the sea.

“When we did the [pilot project], we wanted to involve parents and the community, and we took some parents as chaperones,” Whitley said. “They were so inspirational to us. They were so eager to learn. We had parents actually walking around taking notes. They were literally learning at the same time” as their children, she said.

The Island Explorers program has been so successful that its curriculum has been adopted by several other area schools, Whitley said.

The USC Neighborhood Outreach grant supports salaries of USC graduate students who helped design the Island Explorers curriculum and provides classroom supplies, microscopes and research tools. Island Explorers is one of 14 USC-community partnership programs made possible through faculty and staff donations to the 1998 USC Good Neighbors Campaign.

Donations are tax deductible. Founded in 1993, Neighborhood Outreach is a nonprofit corporation that supports projects and programs that improve health, safety, education and cultural offerings in the neighborhoods surrounding USC’s two campuses.

This year’s campaign -- with a goal of $500,000, a 10 percent increase over last year’s record amount -- continues through Oct. 30, and employees will receive information from their departments on how to participate.