The National Aquarium Seen Through The Eyes Of Children
by Bruce Malkin

Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club recently chartered a bus and driver to take 36 children and 9 parents and staff coordinators from Creekside and Sacramento Neighborhood Centers to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. As the bus arrived at Creekside, the youngest children ran outside to meet it. You could see the excitement on their faces. The teenagers at Sacramento were also very pleased to be going on a full day's trip to another city.

As they rode along the highway, some of the kids could not help but look out the windows in wonder at everything around them, since some of them have only seen their own neighborhoods and schools. After the one hour ride, they arrived at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and split into smaller groups in order to better see the sights. After admiring the majestic swimming of the stingrays and the giant turtle, they watched the Dolphin Show, which was a beautiful experience. The children were amazed at how smart and friendly the dolphins were.

After lunch, the excitement was evident on the children's faces as they could not wait to re-enter the building to admire the fantastic diversity of marine life from fish to coral. Of course, the giant Pacific Octopus received many cheers from its young fans. Visiting the Tropical Rain Forest gave them the opportunity to admire a different environmental landscape, including a very large tarantula, a colorful parrot, and a monkey. Next they viewed the large shark tanks, and then the children's corner, where the kids had the opportunity to interact directly with the marine life. They finished with the colorful poisonous frogs, whose sizes, forms and colors really were amazing.

If you are interested in helping the Mount Vernon Kiwanis Club help the youth of our community, then please contract Bruce or Joanne Malkin at 703-360-7725 or at jbmalkin@verizon.net for further information on their Club's activities.