NS students’ discovery trip

(CNS): North Side Primary school Year 6 pupils saw snakes, gopher tortoises, ospreys, toads and alligators, and handled snakes, a tarantula, turtles, and were introduced to the Florida Snapping Turtle, whose name fits his appearance and his aggressive response to being disturbed, while on a school trip to St Petersburg, Florida. The children attended Boyd Hill Nature Preserve daily and were taught by George Heinrich, of Heinrich Ecological Services, and some of his colleagues.

There were some classroom sessions and lots of opportunities to put their learning into a real situation when they went out and about in the preserve. Keeping quiet enough not to scare the wildlife and vigilant enough not to miss some of the creatures who moved quickly andsilently away at any sign of human life meant that the children were rewarded with sightings of the local wildlife. They were taught how to find clues leading to information about the animals that lived there – even when they were too elusive to be seen.

In a release, the school thanked the major sponsor for the trip, Rotary Central, which also paid for trip t-shirts, as well as other sponsors, including Maples and Calder, the Cayman Islands Development Bank, Cayman National Bank, CUC and Otis A/C. The money they so kindly donated was added to the internal fundraising total and allowed the children to go to Herpetology Camp for a week.

The small but motivated group of children, staff and parents had a great week and are now back in their North Side classroom putting their learning into a showcase, which will be held for parents, Education Department personnel and sponsors on the evening of 26 June. The children are also working on a presentation to be given to the Rotary Central Club as a thank you for their generous support. More details and photographs can be found on the school blog at www.nsnorthsideprimaryschool.blogspot.com