The Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge is ramping up their educational outreach programs throughout the community.
Refuge AmeriCorps volunteers Zach Dykema and Kristin Lantz and Park Ranger Ted Hodson headed the Storytime in the Classroom program this year. Dykema and Lantz typically work in the refuge’s biology department with Dawn Washington. “With winter, field stuff is pretty slow. Dawn likes us to get different experiences, so that’s why we were put in charge of story time this time around,” Dykema said.
The three went to Davis Thomas Elementary Middle School to work with a kindergarten classroom. “The main goal is to get them excited about nature, and the refuge that’s in their back yard,” Dykema said. The activities included a reading of “Little Skink’s Tail” by Janet Halfmann and an accompanying crafting activity.
The crafting activity was designed to tie back to ideas presented in the book. The students were given a cutout toilet paper role with plastic eyes attached, and then decorated it to look like a skink.
Historically, story time programs were held at the refuge’s visitor center. The refuge staff aspires to expand the classroom program to Tucker Valley Elementary Middle School and Harman Elementary High School.
Storytime in the Classroom is just one of the refuge’s educational outreach programs. Hodson recently visited Mountain Laurel Learning Cooperative to teach a water cycle lesson. The lesson led students through the process of a single drop of water flowing through the water cycle. “The kids seemed to really like it,” Hodson said.
For older students, the refuge has a program called Wildschool. For 13 years, Wildschool has sent refuge staff to sixth grade classrooms at Davis Thomas, Tucker Valley, and Harman to teach a lesson on the wetland ecosystems. After the classroom lesson, students are brought to the refuge for a day. “We are trying to get across how important our wetlands are, especially in the Canaan Valley,” Hodson said.
“With Wildschool, we are following the science standards for sixth graders, so I want to do lessons that coincide with what the teacher is teaching,” Hodson said. The refuge would like to expand Wildschool to fourth and fifth grade classrooms.
Hodson sees these programs as serving multiple objectives. “It’s a combination of community building, but it’s also a way to educate the public on what the refuge actually does, and why we’re here. It’s a way for us to reach out to the community,” he said.
The refuge’s educational programs are not exclusively for kids. Project WOW (Wonders of Wetlands) is a workshop for adults, specifically educators, that counts as a continuing education credit. The workshop teaches educators how to teach wetland science to students by providing attendees with activity and exercise ideas. The workshop is free and is usually held during the summer.
