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Greenwich Audubon’s Teacher Naturalists bring the wonders of nature to the young

Retired Audubon Educator Ted Gilman shepherds a group of preschoolers visit to the wilds of the Audubon Center. Photo by Fritz Waterman.

By Anne W. Semmes

It’s Spring at the Greenwich Audubon Center and soon the school kids will be boarding buses from their public and private schools from as far as New York City that will take them to the Audubon Center sanctuary’s 285-acres, seven miles of trails, and Byram River that flows through the sanctuary. They’re destined for discoveries.

Meeting them will be Ryan MacLean, Audubon Education Coordinator, with other staff members, and volunteer Teacher Naturalists (TN) who are part of a partnership program kicked off by the Junior League back in 1964 says retired Audubon Educator Exemplar Ted Gilman.

“Being a Teacher Naturalist is being both a group leader and a partner in the process of discovery with the students,” tells Gilman. So, when a bus unloads as many as 45 students, Gilman explains, “The Teacher Naturalist volunteers enable the Audubon Center to divide visiting school classes into smaller groups, often around 8-10 students, to provide more individualized attention to the students and their discoveries, observations, and questions.”

“Introducing children to nature with hands on programs is a rare opportunity these days,” tells eight-year veteran TN Kimberly Henderson. “The students are experiencing nature up close and personal. This is the only way, in my opinion, to engage them and develop in them a love of nature and a responsibility to care for this earth.”

TN Henderson shares one of those discovery moments she had shepherding a group of second grade students on a hike. The students suddenly stopped, telling her they were seeing a rabbit. Henderson was doubtful, “because there was no way a rabbit would be sitting still with all the students peering at it.” When she looked into the tall overgrowth, “There was a newborn fawn sitting quietly waiting for its mother to return. I had totally missed this moment of grace, but a student had found it. It was a moment of wonder for everyone.”

Those moments of wonder are often experienced by Audubon TNs. Angie Hartofilis of Old Greenwich in her sixth year as a TN remembers taking a group of first graders to check out a log roll. “It’s a dead log rolled over. They don’t see it as a habitat, as a living dynamic thing. They’re curious. They see movement like wigglies, like squigglies, and they back off like, ‘Oh, my God!’ You didn’t know because you never looked. It’s those moments I really like as an educator. I like giving people first experiences.”

Come April 13, 14, 15 is the training session for TNs, with great expectations there will be new volunteers wanting to join this Audubon family of educators. “It’s not so much of a training,” says Audubon Educator MacLean, “but an opportunity for everyone to get to know each other and to show how we teach certain programs about nature.”

“It’ll involve not just sit-down sessions,” adds MacLean, “but acclimating those who are new with the Audubon Center and our history…and not just sharing the materials of the curriculums that we do, but also a lot of hands-on outside time to really walk through with everyone how we conduct certain programs by stopping in those really important and special areas on our trails that make for a great teaching lesson.”

Like those vernal pools and “how some ponds dry up during the year or a log that’s good to roll over. These are just a few examples of those stopping points,” adds MacLean. So, there’s learning about “Water, Erosion, and Watersheds,” and “Fresh Water Ecology Studies,” and “Birds,” and “Plants & Partners.”

What stands out in the 14-year experience of Greenwich TN Barbara Kavanagh is taking that group of third graders to one of those vernal pools. “We take a spaghetti strainer and put it down into the pond and pull it through the water and see what we bring up. And they learn to understand that the dragonfly they see flying around was actually born at the bottom of the pond… And that the mosquito that’s kind of bothering them at their picnic was born in the pond, and they do transform into a life outside of the water, and we talk about breathing. How do you breathe oxygen underwater? How do you breathe when you’re on land? Well, of course they have to develop some lungs. And all of a sudden, this little boy looks at me and says, ‘Mrs. Barbara – No way! Are you kidding me?’ He couldn’t believe that this whole world existed.”

“I knew nothing when I started,” says TN Kavanagh. “I came because of what I love, being with children, and teaching them about nature. And then the people who were volunteering or on the staff taught me what I needed to know. It’s very basic. I’m just a normal mom.”

TN Hartofilis found herself one of the youngest TNs when she first arrived. “Many of them have been doing it since they were younger and had their kids,” she says. “I was in my early 30s when I first started doing it, and my kids were in elementary school and it was just cool to be part of a group dynamic,” where, “Their life stories were very different, and they were talking about being grandmothers.”

“It is so important to get children outside, to take a break and get away from passive electronic entertainment,” shares 20-year serving TN Camille Broderick. “Having a walk outside is an opportunity for children to use their senses, to slow down and to observe the natural world around them.” She adds, “Also it is very important to help children understand that they can observe the wonders of nature right in their own backyard.”

Broderick, who is a busy lady across Greenwich, has a deep love of Nature and endeavors to help children enjoy its wonders, and in so doing enjoys it for herself. Such was the case that warm Fall day when she was guiding a group of fourth graders spelling out a Water, Erosion and Watershed program. “A gentle rain began. As it was very warm the students (and their accompanying teacher) were eager to continue our walk versus going back to the Center. The gentle rain was magical to see….and hear…. the rain drops gently bringing the forest floor to life. The effects of water on the landscape, our topic of the day, was discovered firsthand and in real time.”

For more information on the Teacher Naturalist Program, visit https://greenwich.audubon.org/teacher-naturalist-volunteers, or email Audubon Education Coordinator Ryan MacLean at Ryan.MacLean@audubon.org

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