Kennedy Montessori Elementary School
Lori Trout and her 4th grade class at Kennedy Montessori have followed the Whooping Crane migration along the eastern crane flyway since 2005. In 2006 Ms. Trout’s students started a letter writing campaign to Exxon Mobil to raise money to support the Whooping Crane migration. As a result of their letter writing campaign (and with the help of class pen pals in Canada, who also sent letters), Exxon Mobil donated $2,500 to Operation Migration, the organization that leads the young Whooping Cranes on their first migration south using ultralight airplanes. Ms. Trout’s students are currently developing a video ad to raise additional money to support the migration. To learn more about Ms. Trout and her students’ activities focusing on the Whooping Crane reintroduction in the eastern United States, visit the Journey North website.
Kennedy Montessori students are also involved in a garden club, which was started by Kaki Robinson, a retired teacher. The garden club has several conservation projects and gardens. In addition to the school gardens there is also a small wetland on the school property, and the teachers hope to put in a solar and wind powered water pump in the wetland to promote alternative energy understanding.
Pictured below is Ms. Trout's class and the memorial in their school wetland to the 17 Whooping Cranes that were lost in Florida in winter 2006. The students were deeply affected by the loss of the young cranes, which had completed their first southern migration from Wisconsin the previous fall.
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Kennedy Montessori students care for a butterfly garden at their school (the flowers attract butterflies and other helpful insects) and learn about the role of earth worms in keeping soil and gardens healthy. During the school Earth Day Fair, students learn about nature and their role in protecting the environment (click here to read about Kennedy Montessori's 2009 "Save It Don't Waste It" Earth Day Fair on our Three White Cranes blog).
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