As the 31-foot research vessel Anova bobbed gently in the tide near Anacortes, Courtenay Ray let the rope slip from her hands, watching as it quickly descended out of sight into the murky water of Burrows Bay.

Attached to the end was a high-tech meter that measures salinity, dissolved oxygen and temperature — factors that, when in sync, produce the rich abundance of sea life in the Puget Sound area. The experiment was basic oceanography and one of three the boaters would perform that day. As the monitor lit up, Ingrid Larson announced the readings: At 25 meters, the salinity was 30.4 parts per thousand, temperature 9.96 degrees Celsius and dissolved oxygen 5.79 parts per million, all normal for this time of year.

While this group of seven students also measured the bay's currents during high tide, eight other students at the nearby Shannon Point Marine Center lab squirted plankton-filled drops of water onto slides and identified what was swimming around under the microscopes.

The students, none older than 17, are members of the inaugural Ocean Research College Academy (ORCA), started this fall by Everett Community College.

The 30 participants are being offered an opportunity that few juniors in high school receive. Finishing the academy's two-year requirements means earning a high-school diploma and an associate's degree of arts and sciences at the same time. The students also will have firm foundations in ocean- research and marine-lab techniques — quite a jump over other young ocean-science wannabes who won't have similar experiences until they get to four-year colleges.

Director Ardi Kveven, at ease on the water and in the lab, smiled while guiding activities on the Anova. Less than two years ago, this program was nothing more than a dream. Regardless of the results of the day's experiments, this one — the academy — has been deemed a success.

Classroom was limiting

After 10 years as a teacher at Snohomish High School, Kveven had had enough of trying to teach students the wonders of the sea from a classroom. Long field trips were tough under a block-scheduling system.

So Kveven went to see a former professor of hers, now the dean of science, math and occupations at Everett Community College.

Kveven told Dean Al Friedman that she wanted to use the state's Running Start program, which funds college courses for able high-school students, and create an oceanography academy that would provide a hands-on science experience.

"She said her plan was to get a [Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation] grant," Friedman said. "I said I'd be supportive, but I was thinking in the back of my head it was a longshot."

But with Kveven's drive and enthusiasm, Friedman wasn't surprised to hear the Gates foundation had approved the academy idea and given the college more than the $54,000 initially requested.

In July 2003, Kveven and Friedman — equipped with $210,000 — began hiring staff members and soliciting students to take on college life and an oceanography focus.

Five teachers for science, English, history and oceanography classes, among others, were easy to find. But many students were wary of trading the structured high-school day for a more-independent college experience, especially for a program without a proven record.

"Many other students were interested in the program, but they didn't want to leave their friends behind," Kveven said.

Some teens didn't qualify. To be part of the program, each student had to pass the state's Running Start tests to show college preparedness. Despite Kveven's summer "boot camp" before the start of this fall semester, some interested students failed the test.

Goal is 120 students

About 30 students from a dozen schools in King and Snohomish counties are participating this year. Kveven and Friedman hope to bring in 50 new students next year and eventually have a continuing total of about 120 students.

The Gates grant will expire at the end of the 2005-06 school year, but Everett Community College has pledged to keep the program going. Because Running Start helps fund college classes for high-school students, ORCA would be self-sufficient with about 60 or more students, Friedman said.

Educators in the area are excited about the program and want to see whether they can replicate it for other topics.

"We would really like similar academies here at the high school, so this is a really good model for us," Snohomish High School Principal Diana Plumis said. "If we try to do these, they'll have to be self-contained, where a group of teachers has the same kids for a portion of the day."

As for ORCA, Plumis said, she believes students who participate will do well because of Kveven's passion for oceanography and its connection with other classes they take.

Though the focus is on oceanography, Kveven said, the mission is to help each student learn to think creatively and tackle a scientific question in a way that prepares them to ask the next question.

"It doesn't matter what the answer is, as long as we ask the question," Ray said back at the lab, almost repeating a mantra, as she prepared to tackle a plankton slide.

Underneath one slide were a number of plankton, some plant-based like the green, round coscinodiscus. Others resembled microscopic bugs, swimming in circles and looking for escape like the copepod, notable for its red antennae, or the metanauplius, which looks like a tick about to burst.

Emily Stefansson, 16, left Woodinville High School to participate in ORCA. She was focused on a future in marine biology as she methodically worked out a hypothesis from her saltwater testing.

"I heard about the program from another student and have always wanted to be a marine biologist," Stefansson said. "So I thought this was a good way to test that, to learn whether I really wanted to do it or not."

Ray, from Everett High School, passed up a Rotary International scholarship that would have sent her to Belgium for study abroad. Now she wonders whether she didn't make the wrong choice. She is not as interested in marine biology as she and her parents thought she would be.

Kveven said of the initial 30, she can peg about four or five who might end up oceanography majors.

"I didn't know what to expect, but figured I'd try something new," said 16-year-old Seth Kuhlman, a student from Lake Stevens High School who likes the academy but isn't sold on marine biology. "It's been harder, and you have to work a lot more independently."

Program gets attention

Four-year colleges and universities have taken an interest in speaking with ORCA's students about pursuing marine-biology degrees at their programs, Kveven said. The University of Washington wants to meet the group, and Western Washington University, which operates the Shannon Point Marine Center, is already an integral part of the ORCA program.

"They're doing a lot of the same things that we're doing with third-year [college] students, just not in as great a depth," said Nathan Schwarck, a marine technologist at Western and the Anova's captain.

Gene McKeen, Western's manager of academic support services at the marine center, agreed.

"Sure, 90 percent of the students aren't interested in [a career in] the field, and 5 percent have known [they are] for a long time," McKeen said. "But with the other 5 percent, this helps them decide whether this is good for them."

Kveven is pleased with the hard work her students have shown.

"The cruel irony is that they really don't need any more science to graduate from high school," she said of the group. "But they're getting a unique experience. They're learning that despite all the work in science, there are still so many answers yet to be found."

As the Anova docked after a day's tests, the students already were discussing the results of the saltwater experiments they had conducted. How strong were the currents in the bay? Did the difference in salinity at various depths affect sea life?

There were several hypotheses tossed out as the group unloaded its gear and stepped off the boat. Kveven smiled. She was watching the evidence mount for her own hypothesis: Science is better taught outside the classroom.

ORCA is the proof.

Christopher Schwarzen: 425-783-0577 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com