FRIENDS OF EDGEWOOD NATURAL PRESERVE

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Spring wildflowers were at their best this year for school groups, scout and brownie troops visiting Edgewood. Sherri Osaka’s homeschoolers braved the rain and one tick bite, but otherwise enjoyed their outing in March. The German-American School sent their first and second grade classes for a first and reportedly memorable experience with Edgewood’s natural communities. All of Highlands Elementary third grade classes explored the Sylvan Loop trail in mid-April. Here are some excerpts from Pat Oren’s account of one of those trips.

The kids were pretty good and let me stay in front of them 90-95% of the time. They seemed to be worried about attacks by spiders, snakes, and flying squirrels (!), and they may have let me lead just so I would be attacked first. Our group got lucky—we spotted in the bushes the biggest fence lizard I’ve seen in my life, maybe 9 inches long! We also saw banana slugs, which were a hit, too. And the kids were happy to find some flowers they knew: buttercup, paintbrush, Indian warrior. I showed them the last giant trillium, blue dicks, blue-eyed grass, yerba buena (talked about tea), miner’s lettuce (talked about salad), hound’s tongue (talked about burrs and animal transport of seeds), oaks (Native Americans eating acorns, leaching), California sagebrush (Native Americans used it as a purification incense before hunting), bay leaves (in spaghetti sauce), maidenhair fern (basketry), and goldback fern. When we got back, the kids ran around in the picnic area to let off steam. Overall, a good experience for them and for me, I judge.

You see what fun it can be to lead field trips for children. Many thanks go to our great schools outreach team: John Allen, Barbara Erny, Herb Fischgrund, Dick Gehrer, Paul Heiple, Pat Lisin, Pat Oren, Jan Simpson, and Robert Strode. They have offered wonderful support to the program. If you think this might be a way to use your talents to inspire children about environmental stewardship, please contact me. We certainly do need more docents!

Send mail to wm at this domain with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 1999 - 2009 Friends of Edgewood Natural Preserve. Last modified: June 13, 2009.