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The Spoonbill Scoop 
Winter 2011
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Holiday Greetings from the Executive Director
As we close out our fourth season with Nature's Academy, I find myself reflecting on our humble beginnings and recent accomplishments. This year has been one marked by incredible growth and tangible impacts. Several of our many milestones include:
- We have now reached over 10,000 participants with our message of science literacy and conservation
- We have expanded our Island Adventures Project to include 1,500 participants from both Pinellas and Manatee counties and plan to double this number next year
- We have officially adopted shorelines in both Pinellas and Manatee counties and have removed over 1,000 lbs of trash to date
These accomplishments would not be possible without the gracious support of our members, volunteers, partners, donors and grantors. I would like to take this opportunity to send all of you a sincere, heartfelt thank you for helping us to achieve our mission.
This past fall, Nature's Academy had the pleasure of visiting our Island Adventures Project schools during their sharing days. This day represents the culmination of the three phases of the projects, where students reflect upon their classroom and Nature's Academy field trip curricula, assimilate their experiences, and then create conservation projects to display to their school and community. I was completely blown away by the amount of passion and dedication these projects emanated. Our IAP students were clearly impacted by their experiences and they have already taken positive action within their local communities. We could not have asked for a better outcome from this project!
We plan to double our numbers of grant-sponsored students next year - but cannot do this without your help! To date, we have launched a relatively UNSUCCESSFUL membership campaign. We hoped to have 50 members in our flock by 2012, but we are grounded at 15 currently. So if you believe in Nature's Academy, go ahead and become a member today! Our base-level membership of $25 covers the cost of TWO Island Adventures Project students; $250 hosts an entire class! Please help us to continue to raise a generation of environmental stewards through your generous support.
Have a wonderful and safe holiday season!
Sincerely,
Dana A. Pounds
Executive Director
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Our Island Adventures
Fifteen schools. Twenty-four trips. Fifteen hundred students. It's hard to believe we did it all in only three months! We had a great time with students in the Island Adventures Project (IAP) this fall.
This year's expansion into Manatee County allowed us to get to know Coquina Beach very well. We learned where to find the biggest sandspur patches on Leffis Key, the areas where the most trash collects along the shoreline, and Suwanna, as usual, found the deep spots on the grass flats (if there's a hole to fall in, she will find it). We also discovered the spots on our nature walk where students were guaranteed to be drawn in by the mangrove forest, the best places to net a seahorse, and the quickest way to make an entire group shriek with delight: high fives with a handful of sea hare slime!
Coquina Beach is a wonderful place but we are also lucky to have our home base at Fort De Soto - especially when the wind is howling across the bay and even the gulls are sitting things out. We were blessed with an unusually warm season overall but for a few days there the temperatures moved to the low end of the thermometer. The day Lakeview Fundamental joined us, it rested around the 50 degree mark. We expected students to show reluctance to enter the water, but they waded out without a peep. Their fortitude was rewarded with full nets, including pipefish, blennies, sticky-skinned sea cucumbers, and even a couple of scorpionfish.
Our adventures in the field are fun, but for us, the most rewarding part of the IAP comes after the field trips. Upon return to the classroom, students form small groups and create conservation-themed projects that reflect something they learned about the watershed and its inhabitants. This year we were able to supply each class with a stipend to buy materials for their projects, an investment that really paid off. The variety of ideas amazed us- there were posters, art projects, essays, skits, decorated reusable bags, commercials, native plant gardens, a group quilt, rain barrels for school gardens, student-directed news reports, supplies for monthly student clean-up crews, and even "Turn T-T-T-turn the Faucet Off," an original song ready to burn up the charts. Seeing exactly what students take away from the IAP spelled out in their own words is what makes everything we do worthwhile.
There were a lot of numbers in that first paragraph, but there's one more set to tell you about. This fall, IAP participants picked up over 1,000 pounds of trash on Manatee and Pinellas shorelines. That's a huge impact! An even greater one is the groups of students who returned to their schools and started regular cleanups of their own. Skyview Elementary students collected 40 pounds in 25 minutes. McNeal's students now patrol their grounds weekly. As we move closer to our goal of establishing the IAP as a district-wide program for all fifth grade students in Pinellas and Manatee counties, we can point to no better example of the benefits it provides.
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Book Your Trip Now!
Spring will be here before you know it and there's no better time to join us on an "edventure!" From snorkeling with manatees to sleeping with tigers, kayaking in mangroves to exploring the Everglades, our programs immerse participants in Florida's natural wonders. Programs are geared towards school, family, and group organizations and can last anywhere from six hours to six days. While students are having fun they are also learning content that is aligned with the National and Florida State Standards of Education. Our field trips can be customized to fit your budget, time frame, and topics of interest. From the Keys to the manatees, we have you covered! We are currently taking reservations for Spring 2012 so don't hesitate to reserve your space now! |
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| In the Boardroom
As President and Executive Director, I am proud to announce a new feather in our cap - our new Board of Directors! In our last newsletter, you met our new board members Justin, Todd and Jim. We finally all sat down in person at our board meeting in October and got the ball rolling on future plans. As our educational projects expand, so do our funding needs - so our first big task is an annual fundraiser! The board voted to set a target of $50,000 for our first annual campaign, which will transpire in early December 2012. So what can you do to help? To begin, we would love to have some ideas from you to find out what would make our event stand out and make you want to attend... After all, the goal is to get you there to show your support! Any and all ideas are welcome, from silent auctions, to themes and beyond. We will update you on all the details as they develop in upcoming newsletters, but be sure to mark your calendars for early December now. We will see you there!
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Tale of the Terrapin
Even if you spent a month wandering the salt marsh, you might never see Malaclemys terrapin, the diamondback terrapin. They are found in 16 states, from Cape Cod to Texas, but Florida's mangrove swamps and long stretches of marsh make up 20 percent of their range. In fact, of the seven subspecies, three are endemic to our state. We can see why Florida is special to this species, but why is this little turtle special to us? Simple. They are the only species of turtle in the world that lives in brackish water. The diamondback terrapin spends all of its life in or around estuarine habitats, where it feeds on mollusks and crustaceans. Males are much smaller than females, averaging five inches in length compared to the female's seven. That extra room she has in her shell is needed to hold her eggs. When they are ready, eggs are laid in the sandy soil of dunes, islands, and marsh edges and hatch two to three months later. The juveniles take cover in marsh grasses and mangrove roots until they are large enough to escape their predators, and can then live in their brackish habitat over 20 years. Like many other animals, terrapin numbers have been greatly reduced by human impacts. Habitat loss and predation are both cause for concern, but the biggest threat to the species lies in crab traps. The diamondback terrapin has an unfortunate habit of aggregation; once one enters a trap, others tend to follow. The result is a trap packed with turtles that end up drowning before the trap is checked. Ghost traps (those lost to their owners but still functioning underwater) can continue to kill for years. There is a simple solution to this problem: bycatch reduction devices (BRDs). The BRD is a simple rectangle of wire or plastic, approximately two by six inches, placed in the wall of a crab trap. Studies indicate it does not affect the number or size of crabs caught in the trap but greatly reduces terrapin mortality. BRDs can be easily constructed at home or obtained from several locations for free. Of all the available solutions, inclusion of these devices on all crab traps would have the greatest impact on terrapin conservation. Conservation efforts to help this unique turtle are underway but are hampered by a lack of knowledge. Currently, researchers are working on a distributional survey in our area. If you've seen a diamondback terrapin in the wild, want information on BRDs, or are eager to learn more about this special species, please contact George L. Heinrich at george@heinrichecologicalservices.com or Dr. Joseph A. Butler at jbutler@unf.edu. |
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Spread the Holiday Spirit
Nature's Academy has been able to increase the number of students reached by the IAP this year, but there are still many more students to go before we achieve our goal of making it a district-wide program in Manatee and Pinellas counties. We work hard to apply for grants and build partnerships to support Island Adventures, but we still need your support... please consider joining our volunteer corps, interning with us, or becoming a member of Nature's Academy. Membership at the $25 level will provide funds for two fifth graders to experience an Island Adventure, $50 will sponsor four... and at the $250 level we can reach a whole class! Click here to read thank you letters from students you directly support! Membership privileges at any level include: - A Nature's Academy canvas tote bag - perfect for the grocery store!
- Quarterly newsletter
- Member only discounts on field trip excursions and merchandise
- Knowledge you are supporting a vital educational program
Our current goal is to reach 50 members by January 1, 2012. Time is running out. Please help us reach our goal of reaching area students!
For more information, visit the Nature's Academy website.
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