Chapters Bring Audubon Adventures to Life

Photo by Dario Sanches

Sombre Hummingbird (Aphantochroa cirrochloris)

For nearly three decades, Chapters have chosen Audubon Adventures as their primary education outreach project. Chapter leaders say that Audubon Adventures helps them spread their Chapter's passion for conservation of birds and other wildlife with the next generation.

Hilton Head Island Audubon Society in South Carolina has educated tens of thousands of area students using the Audubon Adventures program, connecting 16,042 eager learners to Audubon's mission. For nearly as long, Black River Audubon Society (north central Ohio) has helped incorporate Audubon Adventures into local curricula. And at Jackson Audubon (a Chapter of the Michigan Audubon Society), educators Harold Winters and Libby Warner secured support from Chapter members and local businesses to introduce Audubon Adventures into more than 100 classrooms. Coeur D'Alene Audubon Society (Boise, Idaho) dominates with 139 new teacher members and classrooms in their community this past year.

These stories are not uncommon. That’s because for the past 27 years, Audubon Adventures has been an important tool in Chapters’ educational arsenals.
 
"It’s the major outreach program of Delaware Audubon Society," says Education Chair Kathy Tidball. “The Board is very supportive of this initiative because they believe that exposing children to the wonders of nature and encouraging them to be future stewards will have a lasting impact on the students and the environment.”

Because Audubon Adventures pares down complex issues into clear, enjoyable lessons and hands-on activities, Mary Jane Major, Hilton Head Island education chair, says she easily finds uses for them above and beyond the classroom. “The latest Audubon Adventures materials were exceptional,” she says. “The maps and photos showing migration routes made the whole process easy to understand.” So easy, in fact, that Major used one about monarch butterflies as an accompanying resource for a presentation to adults.
 
Dick Lee, education chair of Black River Audubon Society, says Audubon Adventures moves forward his Chapter’s mission of promoting conservation and restoring ecosystems by focusing on birds and other wildlife through education. “As individual members we do not have the skills of professional educators and therefore cannot meet this goal as effectively as those who work with our young people everyday,” he says. “If we provide them with the tools, they will reach more children in their formative years and have a greater impact.”

FOR MORE INFO:

What do hummingbirds, Alaska wildlife, and endangered rivers have in common? They’re all part of the next series of Audubon Adventures, Audubon’s award-winning environmental education program for students ages 8 to 12 about the natural world and how to protect it. For additional information on the new series or to order classroom kits for your Chapter, contact Bonnie Godfrey at (800) 813-5037. 

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