By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

RUSSIA, Ohio — Educators wanting to learn how to increase wildlife habitat awareness while teaching relevant and required classroom concepts may want to consider attending the WILD School Sites educator workshop, hosted by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife and Russia Local Schools in Ohio.

The workshop will take place July 10 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Russia Local Schools, 100 School Street in Russia, Ohio.

“The idea is to give educators a chance to use their entire curriculum and apply it to things found in nature, whether it’s art, poetry in the garden, life cycles, language usage, social studies or economic value of plants,” said Wildlife Communications Specialist Kathy Garza-Behr. “This is much more than just basic science. We’ve found many teachers use a weather station as a way of teaching math skills.”

The program is an action extension of Project WILD, a supplementary, multidisciplinary environmental education program that is used to teach science, math, language arts and many other school subjects with wildlife management concepts as its basis. WILD School Sites allows the student to take what they have learned from their classrooms and apply it to the creation of wildlife habitat on their school grounds.

“This program allows kids the chance to apply everything they learn in school to this outdoor environment,” Garza-Behr said. “It allows every teacher at every level the opportunity to get outdoors and explore.”

The program, which has been in existence for 10 years, targets children in grades K-12, though preschoolers are participating as well.

“Due to budget constraints, many teachers have had their field trips curtailed, so this allows them the chance to do things on their campus,” Garza-Behr said. “This also cuts out the need for a bus driver and problems dealing with liability issues.

“It’s a wonderful program and we’ve seen a change in many students.”

There are now 92 such certified sites in Ohio. Grants – 20 this past year – valued at $500 each are given to schools to help them start a WILD School Site. Money is used to purchase mulch, flowers and dirt.

“The past few years this program has grown dramatically, especially with all the attention on the environment,” Garza-Behr said. “It’s an excellent opportunity to highlight the outdoors in general, and not just wildlife. And best of all, teachers can easily find a way to use it with their curriculum.”

There is no fee for the workshop but pre-registration is required and space is limited. For more information about the workshop or future WILD School Site workshops, contact Garza-Behr at 937-372-9261, ext. 5020, or e-mail her at kathy.garzabehr@dnr.state.oh.us