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FORT FISHER, N.C. -- At the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher, some students learn the ins and outs through a program called "Coastal Champions." Through its Connect a Million Minds initiative, Time Warner Cable donated $15,000 to the program which gives high schoolers a behind the scenes, hands-on learning experience.

One of the activities includes learning how to make salt water by pouring in pounds of the salt and stir it into the water for the tanks at the aquarium. "I guess it goes into all the tanks because they can't use salt water from out in the ocean because it's not pure enough," said Regan Daughtry, a participant in the program. "So we just made that so the water was pure enough."

Lexi Perillo, a special activities director at the aquarium, says the activity may appear simple, but the students learn a lot. "They're going to do some math [to] calculate the volume of the tank [and] how many boxes we need to be using and talk about that," she said. Afterwards, students check out the shark tank, which is just one of the tanks their salt water will end up.

The Coastal Champions program is aimed at equipping students with science, technology, engineering and math skills relevant to aquarium operations. "With them having these skills through this program, I think it will definitely help them have an edge for college and also if they go into these careers later in life," said Layla Triplett, a special activities director.

During the 18-week program, students will help launch a worldwide campaign aimed at keeping the beaches clean. "A lot of dead animals wash up on the beach and it's mostly caused from pollution, which we can prevent if we all work together," said Markyl Wilson, one of the participants.

Students plan to take the new skills with them as they explore college and career options. "I want to grow up to be a marine biologist and this would actually help me learn what I need to know about being a marine biologist and how to take care of animal, let along their habitats," said Christian Rivera, another participant.