Undersea world calls to Nashville's inner city youth

By Lea Ann Overstreet

Matthew Edwards is 16, and he already knows he wants to be something unique.
“I want to be a NOAA scientist,” Matthew said.

Matthew did not just pull that idea out of a hat. Right now he wants to follow in the steps of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist, studying the world’s oceans to protect them and advance environmental studies.

Matthew is a member of Tennessee Aquatic Project and Development Group, TAP, a local nonprofit organization that exposes youth ages 8-18 to various aquatic, community, social and recreational activities they might not otherwise encounter.

“We target minorities, African-Americans and Hispanics, but we’re open to anyone,” said Ken Stewart, who co-founded TAP in 1995. “We want to get young people interested in the sciences, and though we’re open to everyone, let’s face it, African-American kids are often focused on sports as a way to a better life. They’re not usually thinking about science.”

But Matthew is. And so is fellow TAP participant and Hume-Fogg student Evan Mann.
“I want to be a marine biologist,” Evan, 17, said.

About three years ago, Evan decided he would like to learn how to scuba dive. It might have been just a passing interest for a young kid had his mother not heard about TAP.

“I was really interested in it, and my mom read something about them, so I joined,” Evan said.

Evan’s interest evolved into full-blown commitment. He is TAP’s ninth certified master diver, and Matthew is on his way to becoming the 10th. It is the highest non-professional rank in diving. Both are also certified lifeguards and safety instructors.

In June, the young men took part in the National Association of Black Scuba Divers’ annual youth education summit held in Florida. As two of the summit’s top students, Evan and Matthew were selected to travel in July to the NOAA’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Thunder Bay, Mich.

During the week-long trip, they dived the shipwrecked Montana, an 1872-built freighter that sank on Sept. 6, 1914. It is about 70 feet underwater.

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