At only 16 years old, Jenna Fowlow has put in almost 600 volunteer hours.
Every Saturday for two years, the Federal Way resident has been volunteering at Highline College’s Marine Science and Technology Center.
“Our communities are only as good as the citizens who contribute to them through efforts such as public service and volunteering,” said Kari Coglon Cantey, an associate director at Highline College. “She will demonstrate to other Federal Way residents that it’s never to early to begin volunteering.”
Jenna was awarded the center’s Volunteer of the Year award earlier in the year.
“They were going through and said the hours [the volunteer put in] and I immediately knew it was me,” Jenna said, noting everyone also knew it was her. “To see what I accomplished was really exciting.”
A junior at the Christian Faith School in Federal Way, Jenna became involved with the Marine Science and Technology Center after spending her childhood learning about sea life.
“Ever since the first day, I’ve loved it,” she said.
Volunteers rotate jobs each hour they volunteer. Some of the jobs include teaching children about how each animal died in their gallery of skeletons or showing tour groups the sea life.
“People are surprised to learn we are home to the world’s largest octopus,” Jenna said, noting that part of her job is also to bring about awareness of the major effects pollution in the ocean can bring.
“She is the most committed and reliable volunteer you could ever hope for,” Cantey said. “She shows up ready to go and excited, even when her personal life is busy.”
Jenna said she used to want to make a career out of marine biology and science, but after working with kids at the Marine Science and Technology Center, she decided she wants to go into pediatric nursing.
“I just got accepted to the MultiCare Nursing Camp,” she beamed. “I never expected it.”
She said she was afraid of the doctor when she was a child but after helping her mother work in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, she was hooked.
“I got a spark in me,” she said. “I want to be there, helping.”
Jenna has volunteered at World Vision, packaging school supplies for children and is currently on the honor society at school.
She’s torn between attending Pacific Lutheran University and Linfield College in Oregon. Both have great nursing programs, she said, noting she wants to study nursing and German.
With a plan to move to Switzerland because of the “amazing pediatrics” the country has, right now Jenna is just focusing on finishing up Advanced Placement testing as a junior.
But when she does go off to college, she’ll miss volunteering at the Marine Science and Technology Center.
“They’re like a family,” she said, adding that she plans to continue her volunteer work when she returns home on breaks.
“Volunteers like Jenna allow the MaST Center to keep its doors open,” Cantey said. “The nearly 60 dedicated volunteers clocked in 5,790 hours of service in 2014 alone.”
Highline’s Marine Science and Technology Center is located on Redondo Beach. Its aquarium contains more than 250 native Puget Sound species, exhibits and seminars — all for free.
