*Vera kids use a field guide to identify birds seen at Governor's Island. MAS Photo*

Last summer Our summer educator, Olivia Sanderfoot, reached over 300 kids with our outdoor education programming! Wow! Many of those kids met weekly with Olivia, and were able to benefit from repeat visits and lesson content that built as time progressed.

This fall we are once again partnering with Vera Court, Bayview, and Salvation Army community centers. They’re all doing awesome things, but we’re particularly excited about our lessons with Salvation Army: the older elementary school students are mentoring the younger as everyone explores local parks. We’re hoping the older kids grow and shine with the added responsibility. At the very least, they’re excited about their new roles!

Our new intern, Bryce Lackey, is off to a great start: he will be leading programming at Bayview and Salvation Army community centers, as well as helping out with in-school visits.

Our school partnerships are really taking off: MAS educators continue to meet weekly with Lincoln Elementary, where one of our favorite activities is walking to Wingra Creek to make observations about phenology- the seasonal changes in nature.

*Students at Lincoln Elementary work together to build their own honeycomb. They learned a lot about hive geometry! MAS Photo*

We are also visiting Muir Elementary, where we explore outside with their 2nd grade students. On my first day with the kids, they came back inside from lunchtime recess yelling “we saw a hawk eating a bunny and it’s outside NOW!” They were so excited to share their sighting with me, and to learn more about predator-prey dynamics.

This work was made possible by you! Thank you for helping Madison Audubon Society connect kids with nature!