By Jill Fusco | Educator
The land has come alive. Each year, we trade the serenity and silence of the winter season for the buzz and bustle that spring brings. The spring camp that I would like to share with you all was held in a forested oasis in the middle of Research Triangle Park for the first time through Piedmont Wildlife Center. The excitement radiated from the campers as they arrived on Monday morning all the way down to the almond cented milipedes on the forest floor. Umstead State Park hosted a group of children that signed up with the intention of becoming young wildlife scientists, and with your help, that is exactly what they did. Thank you all for your support, because of you, we reach more children each year.
Everyday we greeted the excited budding naturalists with a new subject in the world of wildlife science. Activities ranged from a wide take on a subject such as ecology and relationships between animals, to specific skills such as assessing water quality. When it was warm enough we spent the better part of our time together down by the creek. The tail end of the week, Maren’s opening line of the day would be “can we go down to the creek today?” We aided their discovery with field guides and a squared out plot of land that we tasked them to find and identify everything in. Although some got distracted by slugs and earth worms, we all learned something new. Jordan ran up to me to tell me “there are fifteen pine tree saplings in there! I counted them all!” And Ryan informed me “that cockroach is an oriental cockroach.” It was incredible to watch children take so quickly to a whole new environment. Heather, in particular, was very concerned with the presence of “crawlies” in the woods, but by the end of the week, she had almond scented milipede friends crawing up and down her arm.
It was undoubtedly a week of discovery. Thank you all for supporting the growth of these young people. Without you we would not be able to reach all the children that we do. Because of your generous donations, we can continue to engage children’s passions and love for the outdoors in our camps. Children who attend our camps are able to learn valuble lessons in nature, build self confidence, and be happy by playing and having fun in the small communities we build each week. Your contributions to this endeavor are truly appreciated. Thank you!
May 13th is Global Giving Bonus Day! Every donation will be matched by Global Giving that day so tell your friends they can help budding naturalists like Maren, Jordan, Ryan and Heather by making a donation on May 13th!
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