The Mandarin High School Marine Biology teacher Mr. Waters has won a $10,000 grant for his Reef ball Project. The grant consists of trips for two students and their teacher to attend the awards ceremony at Sea World of California. The class is one of eight schools across the country to win the 2000 Sea World Environmental Excellence Award, which also includes 100 T-shirts to share with the school and community. The student project involves constructing artificial reef components made of concrete called reef balls, which are used to improve Jacksonville's offshore reef system. The reef balls mimic natural coral heads and replace damaged reefs or create new ones. The reef balls made at Mandarin High School will be added to 500 that already have been constructed and will be deployed in June.
