Update on Outdoor Learning Experience for Third Graders
The Education Committee is working with the Capital Land Trust and North Thurston County Public Schools to develop a hands-on outdoor learning experience about birds for 3rd-graders. We now have more details about the project and its dates.
Six 3rd grade classes will be coming to the Inspiring Kids Preserve, which is located off Johnson Point Road, north of Lacey. About 50 students will be there on each of the programs six days:
Wednesday, April 13; Thursday, April 14; Monday, April 18; Tuesday, April 19; Thursday, April 21; and Friday, April 22
The children will be at the Preserve from about 9:30- 1:30 each day. We will need to provide volunteers from about 8:45 until 2:15 each day, but it is possible to sign up for a half-session shift.
We are responsible for staffing one of four educational experiences; the students will rotate through these four stations. At any given time, there will be 12-15 students at a station, and they will work at that station for 25 minutes before moving on to the next one.
We are very excited about the project we will be leading the students through! We will have placed very realistic, life-sized wooden models of local birds along one of the Preserve’s nature trails. We will take the students on a bird walk, tasking them to locate the birds and then talking with them about how each is well-suited for its life in the forest. We will also play recordings of the birds’ songs for the children. Talking points will be provided to all volunteers, and all volunteers will attend a preliminary walk-through so that they know the birds’ locations.
Ideally, we would need 12 volunteers so that we could have two persons there for each session.
Because we are living in the age of COVID-19, any commitment you make now would be tentative. We understand that you might be reluctant to agree to spend time with children, even outdoors, without knowing how serious any health risk would be in April. We have informed Capital Land Trust that we as an organization might decline to participate if we feel that doing so would put our members at too high a risk, and you certainly might make that individual decision for yourself as April draws nearer. Still, we are very enthusiastic about this project and the opportunity it affords to introduce children to birds, and so we are proceeding to develop the activities and to line up volunteers.
If you are interested in volunteering, or if you would like more information, please contact Kim Adelson at education@blackhills-audubon..
Photo of Inspiring Kids Preserve, Capital Lands Trust, by Justin Roberts.
