Celebrity Visitor!

We had a celebrity visitor this week!  Fellow naturalist, birder and friend Ken Keffer came to school and gave a great presentation for our elementary students!  Ken writes articles for the "Birds and Blooms" magazine and he's authored several books.  He told students that nature is right in their backyard and town - they don't need to go on a trip to find it. He discussed fun outdoor activities for each season.  Each family that attended received a copy of his book that he co-authored with Stacy Tornio, titled, "The Kids' Outdoor Adventure Book - 448 Things to Do in Nature Before you Grow Up".

He got to school early enough {2:00} to spend some time with my kindergartners and I.  The kindergartners had a scary Halloween song to sing and they sang around his chair and "scared" him. Then the kids wanted him to do the tally marks for their bird ID slideshow. They knew 54 birds!  Next, Ken and I took the kids for a hike out to the lake to try using binoculars for the first time. It was tricky teaching them to focus binoculars. Some kids were able to see Turkey Vultures, European Starlings and Eurasian Collared-Doves, but it was very windy, so birds were not easy to find. We did see some cool insects, a smoosh-ed frog and some mushrooms. It was a fun time!