The refuge bays, estuaries, offshore rocks, and abundant wildlife populations afford outstanding resources to aid in the education and discovery of the natural world. The Oregon Coast Refuge Complex is always interested in building new relationships with teachers and students. For information on how your school can get involved, please e-mail Dawn Grafe.

Please visit our Wildlife page for more information about viewing wildlife on our refuges.

Nature of Learning

The Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex is a proud participant in the Nature of Learning Program. This program educates participating students about fish and wildlife resources and local conservation issues. It engages students in service learning projects involving habitat monitoring and restoration. Service learning projects can include removal of invasive plants, tree-planting or biological monitoring. The Nature of Learning Program gets students' hands dirty and provides them with a wildlife experience off school grounds.

The Nestucca Bay, Bandon Marsh and Siletz Bay Refuges currently offer Nature of Learning opportunities for students. For more information, or to get your school involved in the Nature of Learning program, please contact Dawn Grafe.

Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program

Tigard Student Wins the Oregon 2007 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Competition

Educators and students from kindergarten through high school are encouraged to get involved in the Federal Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design Program. This innovative, curriculum-based program uses art to teach about migratory birds and conservation. The program culminates with an annual art competition offered in each state. Draw, paint, or sketch your own design of North American waterfowl. Oregon residents may submit their entries to the Oregon Coast NWR Complex. The entry deadline each year is March 15, you can download the Junior Duck Stamp brochure in PDF format here. The Best of Show from each state competes in the national competition in Washington, D.C. The national winner's artwork becomes the image for the next year's Junior Duck Stamp.

Educators from the Oregon Coast NWR Complex are available to bring the interactive Junior Duck Stamp curriculum into K-12 classrooms. Educators lead the hands-on activities that focus on waterfowl anatomy, adaptations, and sketching. Lessons are recommended for both science and art classrooms and they meet Oregon state benchmarks for environmental education.

Shorebirds: Migratory Superheroes! Program
(Formerly known as Shorebird Sister Schools)

The Shorebird: Migratory Superheroes Program allows students from all over the Western Hemisphere to track arctic-nesting shorebirds along their migration routes and share their class field experiences with other students. This USFWS program integrates an interactive curriculum with field experiences, engaging students in science learning. Students build awareness and understanding of how their own community's wetlands are part of the healthy chain of habitats that are needed by migratory birds to survive.

During the 2008 school year, educators from the Oregon Coast enrolled 23 4th and 5th classrooms totalling more than 700 students in the program. The program consists of five classroom sessions involving shorebird-related activities, discussions, and lessons. The students become young experts on shorebird characteristics, adaptations, habitat, migration, research, feeding, identification, and conservation. During April and May the students attend field trips to local wetlands and study the migrating shorebirds in their habitat. With the aid of live birds, a rich habitat, and the assistance of local birdwatchers, the Shorebirds: Migratory Superheroes curriculum comes to life.