November, 2013 – SCIENCE CENTER EMBARKS ON ESSAY CONTEST

SCIENCE CENTER EMBARKS ON ESSAY CONTEST OF TITANIC PROPORTIONS Blockbuster exhibit, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, sets scene for essay winners to have sneak peek

(WEST PALM BEACH, FL) True to the Titanic’s evacuation model of women and children first, it was Palm Beach County students who had the very first sneak peek of the anticipated exhibit at the in West Palm Beach.  When Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition opened for a private VIP preview day, three essay winners lead the charge through the highly anticipated exhibit, and their entire classrooms joined them. The three selected winning students – one elementary, one middle and one high school student — each took home $500 for their essay and the glory that comes along with being the catalyst for the rest of their class getting a morning off from school.

Always eager to inspire young minds, the Science Center recently held an essay contest in which they asked local students this very relevant and thought provoking question: If the Titanic catastrophe were to happen today, would women and children still be evacuated first? Hundreds of essays were collected throughout Palm Beach County Schools and three winners were selected. (* Please for winning essays in their entirety).

“The Titanic exhibit gave us the perfect opportunity to call on our continued partnership with Palm Beach County Schools to open every mind to science,” said SFSCA CEO, Lew Crampton. “And the nature of the exhibit gave us a new opportunity to work with Palm Beach County social studies departments. We are so impressed with the winners, as well as the 52 finalist essays we had the privilege of reading. We know this exhibit will interest guests of all ages and we hope that families and multi generations will visit it together, and have similar thought-provoking discussions about Titanic’s relevance today.”

On April 15, 1912, RMS Titanic, the world’s largest ship, sank after colliding with an iceberg claiming more than 1,500 lives and subsequently altering the world’s confidence in modern technology. The South Florida Science Center pays tribute to the story behind this mysterious marvel in Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition. Nearly 100 legendary artifacts conserved from the Ship’s debris field are showcased, offering a poignant look at this iconic Ship and its passengers.  During the days of November 16^th through April 20^th, visitors of the Science Center will have the ability to step back in time and become part of Titanic’s 102 year journey. Guests take a literal walk back to the year of 1912 as they receive a replica boarding pass of an actual passenger aboard Titanic.

Visitors then begin their chronological journey through the life of the Titanic, moving through the ship’s construction, to life on board, to the ill-fated sinking and amazing artifact rescue efforts. Perfume from a maker who was traveling to New York to sell his samples, china etched with the logo of the elite White Star Line — these and many other authentic objects offer haunting, emotional connections to lives abruptly ended or forever altered. Visitors can marvel at the recreated First Class and Third Class accommodations, and press their palms against an iceberg while learning of countless stories of heroism and humanity. Winding their way through to the “Memorial Gallery,” visitors take their boarding pass to the memorial wall and discover whether their passenger and traveling companions survived or perished.

According to Palm Beach County student essay winners, today’s evacuation of the Titanic may have had very different survival results.

“Everyone would get off of the boat TOGETHER. Because the crew cares and is responsible for EVERYONE (men, women and children), they would not care who got on the lifeboat first,” wrote Austin Stein, a 5^th grade student winner from Waters Edge Elementary.

“Ultimately, I believe that, based on all the frontiers they have exceeded in the past decades, women would not be evacuated prior to men in a situation similar to that of the Titanic vessel. I have faith in all those who champion the idea of equality among the genders and I will support the push for complete egalitarianism,” wrote Andre Soucy, 8^th grade essay winner from Western Pines Middle School.

“I, personally, am completely for equality between women and men, but I believe that this boils down to an issue of morality. We must take into consideration the greater good for the greater number, where it will benefit society more if a woman was to escape with her child than if a man were to escape. This debate is not one of weighing lives over one another, but seeing the moral action that benefits society as a whole,” wrote Mikael Salatino, an 11^th grade essay winner from Wellington High School.

During Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, admission to the Science Center is $15 for adults, $11.50 for children ages 3 to 12, and $13.50 for seniors over the age of 62. SFSCA members can enjoy the exhibit for free. Admission includes Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition as well as the general admission to the rest of the Science Center.  Due to the anticipated excitement surrounding this exhibit, please be advised that visitors may incur a small wait time. 

The South Florida Science Center and Aquarium, formerly known as the South Florida Science Museum, recently completed a $5 million expansion and renovation and will host Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition in its newly expanded exhibit hall.  With a new mission to “open every mind to science,” the Science Center features more than 50 hands-on educational exhibits, an 8,000 gallon fresh and salt water aquarium- featuring both local and exotic marine life, a digital planetarium, conservation research station, Florida exhibit hall and an interactive Everglades exhibit.   All exhibits will be open during the Titanic’s special showing.

The South Florida Science Center and Aquarium is located at 4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach and is open Monday – Friday from 9am-5pm, and on Saturday and Sunday from 10am-6pm.  For more information, call or visit .  Like the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @SFScienceCenter.

Photo credit: South Florida Science Center and Aquarium

Photo IDs/cutlines:

1)      Austin Stein, Waters Edge Elementary 5^th grade student and winner of Titanic essay contest, is checking his replica boarding pass against the Memorial Wall to see if his passenger survived.

2)      Mikael Salation, Wellington High 11^th grade student and winner of Titanic essay contest.

3)      Andre Soucy, Western Pines Middle 8^th grade student and winner of Titanic essay contest.

4) Three Titanic essay contest winners – one elementary, one middle and one high school student – were presented with a check for $500 for their winning essays. Photo ID: Back row: Glenn Jergensen, Executive Director of the TDC; Jeri Muoio, Mayor of West Palm Beach; Lew Crampton, SFSCA CEO; Steve Abrams, PBC Commissioner; Jorge Pesquera, CVB CEO – Front row: Austin Stein, 5^th grade student at Waters Edge Elementary; Andre Soucy, 8^th grade student at Western Pines Middle; Mikael Salatino, 11^th grade student at Wellington High School