One of the moments I anticipated and looked forward to when I became a
teacher happened today. When I was in high school I think I made it happen
for some of my former teachers. It is a most satisfying event.

It occurred against the backdrop of a project I have pursued for several
years now. Our school is fortunate to be next to a small wooded area which
connects to a forest/shrub wetland. The woods are on school property as is a
narrow strip of the wetland. I thought this to be a terrific educational
resource, though underused. I am in the process of developing it into an
interpretive nature trail for the school and interested community groups.
This is being accomplished with a small grant from the Dept. of Fish and
Wildlife and the assistance of an ambitious Eagle Scout candidate.

In my second year of teaching fourth grade at this school I started taking
my class out to this area to make wildlife observations. Since then I have
made this an after school "club" activity for interested students only. That
first year was quite a challenge because I had my most difficult to manage
group of students to date.

Today (Sunday) I went into school to do some planning. Afterward I went out
to inspect the progress on the trail (I'm so excited!). While heading back
to the building I picked up some trash and noticed some boys on bicycles
riding on the playground. I left the trash next to the school's locked
dumpster then turned to see one of the boys riding up to me. It turned out
to be one of my students from that first year of using the natural area. I
hadn't seen him since that year as he attended a different elementary school
after fourth grade. He told me that since being in my class he has found
birds very difficult to ignore. In fact he received binoculars for his
birthday last year and says he likes to sit on the roof watching birds.

I was absolutely thrilled.

Oh, while I was out I saw/heard a flock of Evening Grosbeaks, a Song
Sparrow, and some chickadees (both kinds).

Michael B. Brown "You don't have to apologise for
13406 125th Av. Ct. E. not knowing the names of the birds
Puyallup, WA 98374 and the stones." -Frank Moorhouse
H-206-841-4281
W-206-841-8733
C-206-208-9588
borealis at borealis.seanet.com