Exploration Gallery is where guests can connect with one another and engage with incredible stories of mariners, past and present.

Year two of the B-WET grant program has been full of excitement. This year has been an extension of year one, engaging with local Newport News high schoolers, their teachers, and local environmental partners.

Through the Bay Watershed Education and Training (B-WET) program, Museum staff and community partners are working with Newport News High School biology and environmental science teachers to give them the tools and know-how to combat any feelings of hopelessness about the state of the environment in their classrooms.

High school students from Newport News Public Schools have been assisting The Mariners' Museum and Park with a Mariners’ Lake restoration project called B-WET. Through this program, students gain valuable watershed knowledge and take an active role in becoming environmental stewards.

The goal of the B-WET program is to have students grow native grasses (Vallisneria americana) in the classroom and plant those grasses in Mariners’ Lake to help sustain the health of the Lake. During the year, students also learn about local Chesapeake Bay environmental issues and solutions, eventually leading to the creation of a hands-on action project to address a problem in our community.

This particular bay watershed education and training grant, known as B-WET, is an environmental program for K-12 students that is focused on hands-on, place-based watershed learning. Our program works with 9th-grade high schoolers in the Newport News Public Schools.

If you are planning to visit the Museum and Park and want to explore a fun place, please consider passing by our lovely Learning Garden. We chose plants that bloom at various times of the year (namely spring, summer, and fall), and many plants are in full bloom right now. One of the most impressive and wonderful bee attractors is the purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).