Audubon in the Schools instructors needed!

by Kris Kirkeby
Audubon in the Schools Coordinator
349-2439 evenings
k2kirk (at) comcast.net.

I'd like to update you on the progress of Audubon in the Schools. We started in the spring of 2005, and to date we've reached about 4500 students. We primarily teach grades 2-5 in the 4j, Bethel, Springfield and Junction City school regions. We visit an average of seven schools per term teaching the lessons to about 20 classes. This is a busy program and one that seems to grow, so it's exciting for us to begin another new school year!

We have seven instructors visiting schools and we very much appreciate their efforts! But at times, we get stretched pretty thin and have had to turn down requests. Now we need more instructors. Please think about joining us so we can continue to make this educational contribution to area classrooms.

Free instructor training available for new volunteers

Free training is available and involves two activity-packed Saturdays before you are ready to go into the classrooms. You don't need to be an artist to learn the drawing techniques well enough to teach the children. And you don't need to be a biologist or expert birder to learn the science well enough to teach the children. We have folks with a variety of backgrounds in our present group, and everyone is doing really well and enjoying the classroom visits!

You'll learn a well-tested curriculum, primarily using four easy-to-teach lessons. Each lesson combines bird biology and art methods in a one-hour session and includes an ecosystem component, aligning the information with the state standards. You'll be using a nice teaching collection of taxidermy birds, nests, feathers, bones, etc. You'll learn simple techniques to teach kids to draw accurately in pencil and render colors in colored pencil.

If you are interested or have questions, please contact me at 349-2439 (346-2511 in the mornings) or k2kirk (at) comcast.net.

Audubon in the Schools welcomes Bonnie Lindberg

Audubon in the Schools is very happy to announce and welcome a scheduling assistant to help us coordinate our school visits! Bonnie Lindberg grew up in Wisconsin and went to college in Texas. A Eugene resident since 1971, Bonnie worked for Lane County and then the City of Eugene for about 25 years, retiring on April Fool's Day, 2005! Her interests include reading, knitting, traveling, a bit of window box gardening, yoga and learning more about the world.

Audubon in the Schools now accepting reservations

The Program now has a new e-mail address. If you know of a school or teacher that would like us to visit their classroom please have them contact Bonnie Lindberg at aitslc (at) gmail.com.