Wildlife Refuges are Elementary for This School

At the start of the school year, an elementary school in Virginia was the recipent of a TAPESTRY grant from Toyota.  The grant money is being used to help with a schoolwide curriculum focusing on the National Wildlife Refuge System.  Students have guest speakers and go on field trips to visit refuges.  Recently a group of students went to visit Occoquan Bay Wildlife Refuge and Mason Neck Refuge and State Park, and had a visit from Bret Wolfe Refuge System marine specialist.   Below, enjoy reading a student essay on the trip to Occoquan and Mason Neck, as well as their takeaways from their visit with Bret.

My Trip to Occoquan Bay Wildlife Refuge and Mason Neck Refuge and State Park

 By Jackson, a 4^th grader, Barrett Elementary School in Arlington Virginia

Today I went to Mason Neck Refuge and Occoquan Bay with Mrs. Frick, Mrs. Cohen, Dr. Sullivan, my refuge group, Mrs. Garmen and some fifth graders. Both refuges were tremendous blasts. These refuges were peaceful, beautiful, big, fun, interesting, observational, all natural, not-wanting-to-leave, full of life, grassy, marshy, full of joyful noises, gorgeous and millions of beautiful, natural sights. The best thing about this place is that it has such nice noises you don’t feel alone when you are alone.

This is the story of my trip. Five minutes after I got to my classroom in the morning, I immediately got my backpack and lunch and went to the library to meet with my refuge group. We got into two groups of three and got either into Mrs. Frick’s or Mrs. Cohen’s car. We went to Occoquan first and got there in about 30 – 40 minutes.

Occoquan was an amazing and beautiful sight. You could hear animal sounds, and yet it was so peaceful. You could see tall grass blades and tress of all widths.  It was usual to see flocks of birds. Occoquan was also very observational. It was just filled with interesting things that you wanted to see everything. My favorite site was a huge lake with a tremendously beautiful reflection of trees. You could also see a tiny island in the distance. Something I thought was interesting was fungi on the trees that looked like a rotting Frisbee with moss growing on it.

We observed and hiked longer. Then we ate lunch and drove to Mason Neck Refuge and State Park.  Mason Neck was peaceful just as Occoquan. A park ranger taught us things and we hiked on a long bridge. There was also a reflecting lake which was tremendously beautiful. Me and my group hiked for a bit, then left the refuge. I had a blasting day.

Bret Wolfe talks to students about the Midway Albtross

Read more about this group on page 3 of the refuge update! Do you want to know more about the project and what the students are doing next?  They have their own website - check it out here.