In a Flip-Flop State of Mind.

Your Daily Beach Therapy from Ocean's Reach

Or call us at 1-800-336-6722

More “Ah-Ha” Moments

 

Just as with SCCF and Captiva Cruises yesterday, our friends at “Ding” Darling have also done a great job inspiring young students from Southwest Florida.

With the help of their new mobile classroom, Ding’s summer outreach programs multiplied its conservation education programming reach to 15 times the number of students they had previously hosted through past traditional, on-site camp experiences.

A total of 1,243 students benefited from refuge educational efforts this summer.

“We did summer camp at the refuge for a couple of years, offering free weekly camps to Title I-school students,” Supervisory Refuge Ranger Toni Westland, who oversees refuge educational programming, said.  “We could offer the experience to only about 80 students each summer. With our new WoW — Wildlife on Wheels mobile classroom — and staff programming, along with the magic of collaboration and partnering, we were able to make a much larger impact on the summer experience for our local children.”

When the refuge lost funding to hire a staff educator, the “Ding” Darling Wildlife Society-Friends of the Refuge stepped in and funded a qualified educator.  It then began work with the refuge creating the WoW mobile classroom, just in time to pivot from COVID’s curtailing of on-site school visits.  The WoW team’s mission has been to reach underserved schools and communities, which they’ve been able to do this past summer by visiting more than than a dozen summer camp locations throughout the region.

“We know that so many students struggle in school and need more targeted and experiential learning opportunities to succeed and get excited about learning,” DDWS Executive Director Birgie Miller said. “Summer programs and camps provide such opportunities to learn and grow, and that’s where DDWS and the refuge worked hard to build the partnerships with area programs and collaborate in bringing programming to them and having groups visit the refuge.”

“It has been an amazingly rewarding summer,” Urban Education Leader Melissa Maher said. “It involved a lot of effort and sweating in the hot summer swelter, but the thank you’s and smiles from students and camp leaders, those ah-ha moments when the kids just ‘get’ nature, it’s all so worth it.  That’s when we really feel what a difference we’re making to young lives.”

Sign Up to Receive Special Offers