The Cabrillo High School Aquarium’s fundraising efforts to install a new touch tank and upgrade critical infrastructure at its popular facility has received a boost from the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation.

The foundation has committed to match up to $25,000 raised for the school’s Interactive Tidepool Project.

What started in 1986 as a single exhibit in a classroom run by one teacher has grown into a 5,000-square-foot facility with more than 30 tanks, multiple exhibits, and its own curriculum that allows students to work as curators for the aquarium.

The aquarium attracts more than 7,000 visitors each year.

“This student-run operation provides a unique educational experience and fosters a deeper knowledge and respect for marine life,” said Kenneth Kahn, tribal chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

“Our tribe is proud to support Cabrillo High School in its quest to upgrade the aquarium’s filtration equipment and re-create a tidepool environment in a touch tank that curious students on field trips can enjoy,” Kahn said.

The Cabrillo High Aquarium’s Interactive Tidepool Project will install a state-of-the-art touch tank that will portray coastal habitats in a way that’s accessible for visitors of all ages and abilities.

The project also will update the aquarium’s filtration system, which is operating at 150 percent of its original design capacity.

Six classes comprise the curriculum for students who run the Cabrillo High Aquarium. Science teacher Greg Eisen, the facility’s director, said those are some of the most popular classes on campus.

“We have about 200 students running the aquarium, and that includes cleaning tanks, taking care of marine life, planning tours, conducting tours, producing artwork and working in sales,” he said.

“The students take a lot of pride and ownership in the program to make it excellent, and we have a lot of students here who want to be a part of that excellence,” he said.

Chris Ladwig, a Cabrillo High science teacher who’s also an alumnus and first served as a student curator for the Aquarium in 2001, said being a part of the program is a unique educational experience.

“In any other class, if you fail a test, your grade might suffer,” Ladwig said. “Here at the aquarium, if you have a bad day, something might not survive.

“Having those real-world consequences really adds to the ownership the students have of this program.”

The Cabrillo High Aquarium offers free tours for elementary school classes throughout the Central Coast and hosts two-hour open house nights each month that attract up to 800 visitors from surrounding communities.

Eisen said the aquarium boasts the largest jellyfish exhibit between Long Beach and Monterey, featuring eight tanks of jellyfish at different stages of development.

Other exhibits showcase vertebrates and invertebrates, and tropical and freshwater environments that allow students to compare habitats.

“This partnership with the Chumash comes at a critical point in our fundraising campaign,” Eisen said. “Through this grant, anyone who now donates to our project will see their contribution matched dollar for dollar by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, up to $25,000.

“This will get us closer to our fundraising goal and help us, ultimately, continue to inspire others to take care of the ocean and our coastal resources.”

To learn more about the Cabrillo High Aquarium or make a donation to its Interactive Tidepool Project, visit www.cabrilloaquarium.org or send an email to eisen.greg@lusd.org.

The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has donated more than $25 million to hundreds of groups, organizations and schools in the community and across the nation as part of the tribe’s tradition of giving.

— Veronica V. Sandoval for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.