NOAA Teacher at Sea
Cheyanne Vanderdonckt
Aboard NOAA Ship Oregon II
July 27 – August 12, 2026
Mission: Shark/Red Snapper Bottom Longline Survey, Leg 1
Geographic Area of Cruise: Western North Atlantic Ocean
Date: August 19, 2026
On August 12, 2026, I disembarked from Oregon II and set foot on land for the first time in 17 days in Charleston, South Carolina. Gradually, the team we had formed for the first leg of the survey began to break up as people went their separate ways. Some would be embarking again in three days’ time for the second leg of the survey. Some were taking their vacations or heading back to work on land but would return for legs three or four. Others, like me, were only part of this one journey from Pascagoula to Charleston.
It is certainly a strange experience to work so intensely with a group of people – even living and eating meals together – and know that the same team will never come together again exactly as it is. Those of us who wouldn’t return were making way for new people to arrive and gain their own experience. (There is even another Teacher at Sea expected later in the survey!) This is also something we have to accustom ourselves to in education. For a year, we build a sort of family in a classroom, with our own rituals, inside jokes, and memories. Then we ultimately have to say good-bye so that everyone can move on and keep growing somewhere else. As a teacher, I want to make sure that what students experience in my class helps them to contribute the best of themselves to every new team they join.Â
This week I am returning to school to get ready for the new academic year. I am reflecting on what I learned from my work and life aboard Oregon II and how I can bring that to bear on my teaching and collaboration with colleagues this year. Of course there are many lessons about science and maritime careers. But there are also lessons about resilience, curiosity, and being willing to take risks. I enjoyed so much support from my family, friends, and colleagues at home. My entire district was cheering me on and colleagues told me how brave they thought I was for trying this. Yet it is this very support that allowed me to feel brave enough to go for this opportunity and follow through with it. Having a foundation of trust and support makes people more willing to take on new challenges. We can risk failure because we know somebody will be proud of us just for trying. This is the kind of culture that needs to be built in a classroom. As I decorate my classroom and write lessons, I am thinking of how I can both challenge and support my students this coming year.
That being said, I am also super excited to show my students pictures of sharks, sharks, and more sharks! It occurred to me how very few people have been able to touch, tag and hold sharks like I did. My students are going to be so excited and they will have so many questions for me. Besides sharks, I want to show them pictures of scientists working outside with tools that are like what they might find in a toolbox at home or what their parents might use at work. I want to show them strong scientists holding shark heads and tails to keep their colleagues safe while they measure and tag an animal. I want them to know that some of the scientists I met didn’t always have the easiest time at school, but they still went on to learn, achieve, and snag one of the coolest jobs in the world. I’m also eager to show them pictures of some of the cool machinery aboard ship and allow them to imagine what skills they might need to be an engineer or steward. A boat is like a floating city and it requires many talents to keep it safe and moving forward.
I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned with other educators. (I’ve already had other teachers ask me about they can become NOAA Teacher at Sea!) In our first meetings back at my school, we discussed our main objectives for the year, one of which is to strengthen students’ writing in science class. Being a Teacher at Sea gave me a lot of first-hand experience with how difficult it can be to express scientific concepts clearly and how important it is to be precise. Yet the processes of recording, writing, and drawing can actually help us solidify new learning. Next week my students will be putting together their science notebooks in which they will record all their observations during classroom experiments. We will discuss the importance of taking precise measurements and recording them carefully with the correct units. (After being the data recorder while a team of scientists holds down a thrashing shark to measure it in millimeters, I feel like I have some insights to share.) I can’t wait to see those notebooks fill up with all of their learning and — most important — new questions to investigate.
If you have been following along on my journey, I want to take a moment to thank you. At times, it was a real challenge to sit down and write but then I would think about everyone who told me they enjoyed reading my blog or looking at my pictures. Knowing I had people excited to read about what we were up to on Oregon II or to learn something new about the ocean motivated me. It’s been such a pleasure to share this with you.