Bright Minds Win Big: Saint Mark’s Episcopal School Receives NBOA Jeffrey Shields Innovation in School Business Operations Award.

March 14th, 2023

by Miah Huerta

Whether you’re a gardener, scuba diver, or a lover of sea creatures, there’s one thing these passions all have in common…water. It’s the life source that connects all things. Its preservation is also a hot topic of conversation, which begs the question. Who is leading the charge to preserve our most precious resource? Saint Mark’s Episcopal School in Fort Lauderdale is one K-8 school that is shining a new light on H20 with momentous accolades to prove it.

Dedicated to solving water issues, Saint Mark’s Episcopal School continues to grab attention in and out of South Florida, as a new recipient of the 2023 Jeffrey Shields Innovation in School Business Operations Award from the National Business Officers Association (NBOA). As the only national nonprofit membership association focused exclusively on supporting finance and operations professionals in independent PK-12 schools, the award holds prestigious value to schools and their ground-breaking initiatives, including Saint Mark’s development of SeaLab, an engineered 20-by-20-foot tidal pool for immersive STEM experiential learning. “Marine education at our SeaLab is a hands-on learning experience which has shown to exponentially increase students’ critical thinking,” shares Dr. Spencer Taintor, Head of School, Saint Mark’s Episcopal School. Nationally recognized for its efforts, the school is educating and inspiring students to become problem solvers of local water and marine challenges while protecting their community’s way of life.

Recognized among a few select schools that have “shaken up” the industry through new approaches, programs, and practices, Saint Mark’s tackles local challenges and makes an impact with the immersive STEM learning experience aimed to foster awareness and solutions to sea level rise, water quality, marine habitats, hydroelectricity, and identification of microplastics, forever chemicals (PFAS), and other contaminants. “Our Goal with SeaLab was to be creative in our approach to education by taking a simple seawall replacement project and elevating it to an experiential learning lab that sought to solve community problems around Sea Level Rise Microplastics, PFAS and water quality in our waterway.”

Honoring the award’s presentation at the 2023 NBOA Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California, Saint Mark’s looks to remain a top institute with one-of-a-kind learning experiences that continue to inspire the next generation of sustainability leaders. This includes the design of a mechanism to catch microplastics entering our waterway system and marine life. “This will improve the quality of our waters, protect sea life, and limit our exposure to harmful microplastic in our bodies. If we can light that fire to exponentially develop the critical thinking skills of these young students, they can become the leaders we need to find solutions in our lifetime.”