Students from Hunt Elementary School and Frost Elementary School participated in ABNL the first two weeks of November (respectively). We lucked out with the weather the first week, and even the second week, while much cooler, we still had good conditions. [While we all believe that there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing, it can be a hard sell to those who don't have the right clothing, or who are not already in love with the outdoors, to buy into that concept, so we are always grateful for "nice weather."]
Each day students get one naturalist-led program, while the rest of the day is filled with lessons and activities led by the teachers. With our naturalists, the Hunt students got to do some aquatic studies,
learned how to use compasses,
did some extensive studies on skulls,
and learned how to use a hand-drill to start a fire.
Some lessons are learned in ways that are unexpected, like how to work together:
The teachers from Frost chose some different activities, and this week we received some thank you letters from the students that express the value of programs like ABNL. I'd like to share some of those with you here:
"Thank you for telling me how to make tea out of cedar trees!
I was fascinated by the info you gave me!"
"The two things I liked most were searching the water trying to
find creatures. I like finding creatures in the water.
I like looking at little bugs in the water.
The other thing was building shelters. My shelter was perfect to me.
It had no holes and it was warm, also."
"I like tearing apart owl pellets for bones. It wasn't poop, it was just
feathers bones and other stuff the owl could not digest."
"I loved doing the ow [sic] pellets. I think I even found a whole rodent, awesome!
"My favorite part was breaking apart the owl pellets.
I've never been so happy with science before..."
"My favorite part was when we did observation time, I remember
Wednesday when I saw a real Blue Jay, but it flew away by the
tractor [sic] and everyone had to evacuate the road."
"...I got poison ivy. The thing is, it didn't stop the joy from running through me."
"My favorite thing was going outside for about an hour and writing
about the weather and things around us. I really loved
seeing a hawk. That was the best part of the whole trip."
[One of the requirements of ABNL is that each day the students must spend one hour
sitting silently and recording their observations in a journal.]
"I also liked when we learn how to use the compasses,
Fred would not stay in the shed."
"My classmates acted quite differently than what they usually act like,
so I know they enjoyed it."
"The memories were great...It was cool when we found hibernating toads."
"At first I didn't want to go, but it turned out to be fun."
"Thank you for all that you have done for my class. I appreciate it
very much and I know it cost a lot and I am very thankful.
It was such a great experience being out in the wild learning science.
Ms. Ellen and Ms. Carrie are great naturalists."
[Yes, this was a student, not the teacher.]
"Ever since last week, my parents have said I've been more naturey."
"I also liked going on hikes in the woods because I just love looking
at all the beautiful nature! I though I was going to hate it, but I actually
loved it so, so much! You guys taught me more than my brain can hold.
I just wanted to tell you, thank you!"
I don't think we could've gotten better endorsements if we had asked for them! Wow!
Many thanks to Margaret Holtschlag, who developed ABNL, and to the Blakely Foundation, whose generous grants have made it possible for us to offer this wonderful program to the students of Jackson.
If you would like your students to participate in ABNL next year, please give us a call! Training for teachers takes place in September.
