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Pictured is an iguana that Pren Woods, a teacher in Summerville, observed during his trip to the Galapagos Islands. The islands lie 600 miles off the coast of South America and are home to many species that exist in the Galapagos and no place else.

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Students in the Galapagos Islands learn how to reuse items that they may normally have considered to be trash.

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Pren Woods, a social studies teacher at Alston Middle School, recently traveled to the Galapagos Islands to learn how to better protect the environment both in the Galapagos and in Summerville. Woods, who is preparing presentations about his trip to share with his school, hopes to encourage the community to make eco-friendly decisions and conserve energy.

Alston Middle School teacher treks to Galapagos Islands -

Pren Woods, a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Alston Middle School (AMS), recently returned from a two week tour of the Galapagos Islands — a group of islands that straddle the equator and lie 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador.

Woods, who has been a teacher for 10 years and is in his first year at AMS, was one of 30 educators across the country selected to spend two weeks researching biodiversity and environmental sustainability in the Galapagos as part of the Toyota International Teacher Program.

While there, Woods and the other educators collaborated with local teachers, business people and professors to identify environmental problems that plague both the Galapagos Islands and the United States and come up with potential solutions.

“Traveling to the Galapagos as an American was very interesting,” Woods said. “I had a lot of eye-opening experiences.”

Among those experiences was learning about and adjusting to the water shortage facing the islands due to the needs of tourists, the islands’ inhabitants and the abundant cattle.

“In the first city we stayed in, the hotel turned off the water at 9 p.m., which I was obviously not used to,” Woods said. “I also learned that in some places families are allotted a certain amount of time per day, about two or three hours, that they can use water.”

Woods also gained knowledge of the tenuous equilibrium the inhabitants of the islands face between welcoming visitors and trying to preserve the islands’ natural beauty.

“We learned about the need of the Galapagos to balance tourism and the money that comes from tourists with the need to protect the environment and the people who live there,” said Woods, who at times questioned whether his presence in the Galapagos and use of the islands’ resources was doing more harm than good.

“We were there to protect the Galapagos and make people aware of the (islands) yet I had conversations with people about if we needed to come to the Galapagos to help save (them),” Woods said. “Every day I came up with a different answer until I decided that if I came with a sense of environmental stewardship, it was OK.”

Woods traveled to four islands — San Cristobal, Santa Cruz, Isabela and Floreana — and witnessed an assortment of unique creatures and vegetation.

“I was in awe of the beauty, diversity and uniqueness of the animals, Woods said. “I was confronted with new ways of understanding the world and the environment.”

One of the biggest lessons that Woods took from his trip was the significant amount of environmental education taking place in the schools and communities of the islands — something Woods would like to see happen in the United States.

Woods visited a classroom where the students were learning how to re-use “trash” to create new products, which Woods says really brought home the importance of not just recycling, but reusing as well.

During the trip, Woods had the opportunity to speak with educators who have previously established environmental programs at their schools. By incorporating some of their advice as well as ideas of his own, Woods hopes to launch an environmental program at AMS.

While Woods spent only two weeks in the Galapagos, he appreciates the opportunity he was given and believes the lessons he learned from his trip will last a lifetime.

“I must honor the privilege of having been chosen (for the trip),” Woods said. “I cannot simply talk about what I’m going to do. I must do it. I’m only one person but I can do something.”

Contact Michael Tannebaum at 873-9424 ext. 215 or mtannebaum@journalscene.com

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