When the best classroom turns out to be in the "great outdoors"~

Good morning friends and family from out along the Western Slopes of  Colorado.  The skies are dark as I look at them through the kitchen window, partly because it's still the early morning hours here and partly because they are so cloud covered. Rain has come down off and on for the past 24-hours here.  The temperature here in Montrose is sitting at 57 degrees and according to my weather app on the phone, that's about 20 degrees cooler than back home in Hutchinson where the sky is not so cloudy all day long.  For my friends and family back in Reno County, I hope the weather breaks for you soon and you can begin to enjoy somewhat cooler temperatures along the way.  I've been thinking of you all.

Yesterday I had my first experience on a field trip as a Colorado school teacher and all I have to say is that it was definitely not like any I had recollection of in all of my 35 years of teaching in Kansas.  Hey, I've had some great memories of taking students to lots of different places back there in the Reno, McPherson, Sedgwick and Harvey County areas of the south central part of the state.  I've gone with kids to the Kansas Cosmosphere, Dillon Nature Center, the Hutchinson Public Library and the Dillon's Warehouse in Hutchinson.  I've taken Old Order Amish students from Yoder Grade School to the Bethel College campus in North Newton, Kansas in the fall.  One year I took my "city kids" from Morgan Elementary to spend the day on an Amish farm near Yoder.  Shoot, I've taken middle school students from Hutch to a casket making company and then on to the mausoleum at Fairlawn Burial Park when we studied the ancient Roman civilization.  (there's a correlation there but that's an entirely different story). And those are just a FEW of the places I've been with kids. The point is that I thought I'd seen it all and then some.  Gotta say after today's experience, I was pretty much wrong in that assumption.

Yesterday the three sections of fourth grade classes from our school here in Olathe went on a field study (first clue that things would be different from  back home~"field trip" is not a phrase you hear much around here).  Our bus journey took us to the Ridgeway State Park, a trek of about 32 miles to the south of the town of Olathe, Colorado.  At the kind generosity of the local Auduban Society and the folks at the state park, our students received an all expenses paid trip to the "field" in order to learn about the process called "bird banding".   It was a first time experience for many of the kids and a REAL first time happening for this Kansas school teacher.  I'm so glad to have had the chance to partake in it all.  What a day filled with learning it truly was.

There were 3 stations for each of the classes to go through and even though we were allotted 45 minutes for each, we could have been there so much longer.  The guides for the day, all retired school teachers themselves, were very knowledgeable about the subject of ornithology and conveyed a true love for what they were trying to teach our students about.  Each of the centers that we attended, all in the very great Colorado outdoors, were educational and most memorable.  I'm sure the kids in my class will be talking about the journey for days to come.  Here's a quick peek at what we learned today along the way.

Station 1-Bird identification

At this station there were 18 different species of birds for the kids to see and try to identify.  Once they carried the status of "road kill" but because of the skill of local taxidermists, their once dead bodies were turned into teaching tools for the local Audubon presenters to use.  I really enjoyed getting the chance to see them up close and very personal.  The kids too really enjoyed it and weren't afraid in the least to come forward and pet their feathers gently.  Our tour guide taught us about how the beaks, most different in nature from the others, enabled the bird to eat the kind of food that it did.  My favourite one to see was actually a "tie" between two of them~the tiny hummingbird and the beautiful mourning dove.

After we finished giving the once alive birds a good "look-see", the kids went out into the woods to see if they could locate any on their own.  Each partner group got a back pack with binoculars and a bird guide to use for reference.  It was so wonderful to watch the looks on their faces when they spied a bird sitting high atop the tree.  They couldn't get those back packs open quick enough to get out their binoculars to get a better glimpse.  You know, I could have taught them about bird identification all day long until I was "blue in the face" back in the classroom and even if I did, they would never have learned about it as well as they did this morning.  There's something to be said about seeing something up close and for real.  No fancy, high dollar textbook can replicate that learning strategy.

   Two of my students, Kael and Andrew, taking a look at a woodpecker perched high atop a tree in the field.

Station 2-Habitat 

The park ranger that presented this lesson appeared to be about twelve LOL but she did an excellent job in getting the kids interested in bird habitat.  They got the chance to break up into smaller groups and head out on a scavenger hunt as we looked for the different kinds of places birds liked to hide in as well as the berries and nuts they love to eat.  My little group, well we came in last after having only identified 5 of the 12 habitat areas in the field but that didn't really matter to us.  We were there to learn but equally so there to have fun and that we most certainly did.  Even the rain that began to sprinkle down upon us didn't curb our enthusiasm.  We just pulled our rain jackets around us and kept right on going.

The Renfro Crew-5 kids and one teacher strong as we pause along the way.  Jesse, our fearless leader who faithfully read the scavenger hunt directions to us at each stop.  He got rather annoyed at a couple of girls who weren't giving him their undivided attention.  I think he reminded me of "me" as he would stop, give them his "look" and start over again.  :)   

Station 3-Bird Banding

Wow, not sure how to describe this last stop along the way.  It was our main purpose in going to Ridgeway and actually, if a field trip could have been "religious and sacred" in nature, well this would have been it.  

Local members of the Black Canyon Audubon Society were manning the tent where the collection of birds to be banded was set up.  The kids first listened to one of the great leaders of the group, Twyla, as she explained the banding process to us.  The kids did an admirable job in listening to her as she spoke, explaining the reason why the banding takes place each fall and how the role of the Audubon Society members is most important in the entire process.

You know, we knew it was special when we met Twyla on the bridge that crossed over from the habitat area to where the banding process was taking place.  She stood at the end of that bridge motioning us to come across very quietly.  When we got to the end where she stood waiting, she reminded us that we were going to be special guests in someone else's home and that "someone" were all of the birds that lived there.  With a smile on her face, she guided us to the place under a clearing where some outdoor benches were assembled.  In the background, the volunteers from the Audubon Society where busily at work.

It was fun to see some of the different birds she showed us.  In fact, she said as she looked over our group of students that she could "spot" a bird that had travelled there with us today.  Poor Trenton~!  He was attired in just the right shirt to be her "bird example".

Twyla explained to the kids the hard truth about telling the difference between the guys and the girls of the bird world....kind of an everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask moment.  The guys are the colourful ones, the beautiful half of the bird world.  The girls, while I am sure most beautiful in their own right, must remain more conservative, more drab in order to camouflage themselves on their nests.  It's a sacrifice that has to be made.

Later we were able to watch the actual banding process and man, I gotta tell you that I probably learned as much or more than the kids did.  From getting caught up in the "catching" nets, to being weighed, measured and having their data recorded by ornithologists working there, to being banded and then re-released into the wild, we saw it all yesterday.  The cool part was, we saw it all from the vantage point of the observation table, about as up close and personal as a 9-year old kid would want to get.

The tools used for banding of the birds.  Hard to imagine that they could actually attach bands to the legs of some of those tiniest of creatures.  The worker explaining the process to us said that they must use extra caution when doing so.  The possibility of actually breaking a bird's leg is a very real one.  Talk about having to have steady hands for your work.

Before we left for the day, we were able to help release them back into the wild.  When Twyla told us that there were 3 birds left to set free, I immediately thought "Oh boy, here are some unhappy feelings waiting to happen soon."  With only 3 birds and 17 kids would be most eager to help, I figured sure we'd have to do "rock, paper, scissors" for the available spots.  I was soon to find out that would not even be necessary.

First the girls, then the boys, and then the adults came forward.  Truly, to watch it and be a part of it was a very special, nearly sacred experience.  With our hands together, the birds were each set free!

Well the clock on the wall says it is definitely time to go.  In just a few hours we'll all be back at school, sitting on the inside instead of standing in the outside.  We have "thank you" notes to write and journal discussions to work on as we talk about our experiences yesterday.  Sad that the experience in the great outdoors cannot go on forever but there will be another time in the future to revisit and learn again.  Wherever you may be this day dear friends, spend at least a little bit of it outside, ok?  The world is waiting for us and if you are reading this, then you woke up today.  There is a purpose in that~go out to find it.