Set 17 fourth-graders free on several acres. Put water buckets and hoses in their hands. Watch what happens.
At Riverside Elementary School, the potentially dangerous combination results in productive work, as students in Troy Chapman’s class tend an abundance of plants, shrubs and trees at the school’s Outdoor Wildlife Learning Site (OWLS). They pair up to tote water buckets around the property, and those lucky enough to be able to use hoses are intent on watering plants, not people. The OWLS is their responsibility and they take it seriously.
“They’re all pretty busy,” Chapman said Tuesday morning as the children worked. “They love coming up here.”
After the work was finished on Tuesday, they gathered around Chapman for a lesson on bird-watching. A barbecue for the students was planned for today at the site.
The area has been developed into a learning center as well as a peaceful retreat that attracts wildlife to the plants the children have planted. Chapman incorporates education into their enjoyment of the surroundings.
“You know that little ‘Chickadee Checkoff’ box on your income tax form?” Chapman asked. “That’s what that money goes to, to fund projects like this.”
Chapman had looked at the former soccer field behind Riverside as an ideal place for a learning site. A farmhouse that once sat to the side of the property had been torn down, but the full-grown trees that surrounded it remained standing.
Chapman brought a committee together four years ago to plan and design a site proposal to submit to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. The department gave its approval and a $2,000 start-up grant. Next year, department representatives will come in to inspect the site for certification.
“I think we’ll get it OK’d” Chapman said.
The ambitious project attracted a drove of volunteers, and donations of merchandise and manpower kept pouring in.
Carolyn Turney, a master gardener and retired teacher and counselor, and Amy Jordan, extension horticulturist, joined the initial committee to help plan and design the site.
Deanna Abel, Walnut kindergarten teacher and project supporter, campaigned for and got a $1,500 donation from the Riverside PTO. The money was used to extend water service to the site and install four faucets.
Students later named the OWLS butterfly garden they built in honor of Abel, who died in December 2005.
Arnold’s Greenhouse in LeRoy donated plants, Dave Markowitz made a wood sign for the entrance, Midland Fence dug post holes for the teaching-area benches, Lyon County Conservation Service and Master Gardeners donated shrubs and trees and showed students how to plant them. Scheller’s Lawn Service lent a helping hand, and Strawder and Daughters in Burlington donated 17 oak trees. City crews brought in chipped wood from trees that fell during an ice storm, and district maintenance staff turned it into a broad trail through the area. Deer Trail Implement personnel came in with equipment and drilled the tallgrass prairie section.
Much of the work, though, has been done by the students themselves, or with their assistance. During the first year, five or six students met Chapman at the school on a Saturday and added a split-rail fence along the front of the property, with hole-digging help from Sigma Pi fraternity members. Students planted 150 American plum trees and 75 eastern red cedars. There are nesting sites, bird feeders and a brush pile to harbor animals.
“We just put in our little lily pad ponds last week,” Chapman said. Students planted a butterfly garden and laid more than 300 paver stones around it for landscaping.
“They had a good time at it as well,” he said. “They didn’t realize how hard they were working.”
They planted 75 bush seedlings this year to make a “quail bundle” attractive to quail and other wildlife. As soon as the adjoining field is mowed, they will plant 17 different kinds of oak trees along property boundaries.
Chapman said the site is beginning to attract more wildlife, and he has opened chainlink fences in the rear, near the creek, to allow more animals access. Students have seen deer, coveys of quail, wood ducks and a wild turkey hen during outings in the refuge.
A grant application was mailed this week to the National Wildlife Turkey Federation, and Chapman is hoping to disc about three acres into thirds — one third for wheat, one third for soybeans, and a bare third — to rotate crops in a larger area for feeding the animals.
“We’ve got some food plots as well,” he said of the initial OWLS area. “It’s been a big project the last three years, and each class every year has been doing some big project up there, it seems like.”
The students thoroughly enjoy the work and the study that gets done.
“I like listening to the birds and watering the plants,” said Aubrey Jenkins, 10. “I’ve learned that if you count the rings of a tree that’s how old it is.” She added that she has learned “I don’t like wild turkeys.”
“I’ve learned if you sit real still and quiet, a bird might come down by you,” 10-year-old Daniel Juarez said.
And Chapman has learned that the OWLS is an excellent place to take students who have behavior problems or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It offers opportunities for them and all the other fourth-grade students to succeed.
“I’ve definitely seen students that thrive up here,” Chapman said. “We focus a lot on teamwork and working together, and it pays off back in the classroom.”
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
Mr. Chapman, I think what you are doing is wonderful. Congratulations on the success of OWLS. We definitely need more of this type of thing.
I read that you have a butterfly garden....I am wondering if you have ever looked into a Monarch Waystation? Their migratory patterns are being destroyed & they need help so I joined here: www.monarchwatch.org (I have no affiliation, just a love for butterflies)
Anyway, you just need to plant milkweeds (I had no idea of the variety of them) and wait. But, you probably already know this. :)
Anyway, I think OWLS is a terrific learning project. Kudos to you.
Melissa
May 23, 2007 at 4:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )