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Just For Kids

Children playing in grassThere are opportunities for children in the area throughout the year starting with with the migratory bird calendar contest each winter to attending science and culture camp in the summer. 

2012 Calendar Contest Honors Shorebirds

This year, the theme of the Alaska Migratory Bird Calendar Contest was “Spectacular Shorebirds”!   Students from communities across the Alaskan Peninsula submitted their best visual art pieces and original poems.

This year, our judges at the Alaska Peninsula and Becharof Refuges selected several submissions to be sent to Anchorage for the final state-wide competition.  Bailey Anderson of Chignik Lagoon was picked this year as the state’s Grand Prize Winner for literature!  Our refuge managers, Bill Schaff, also chose a remarkable poster by Hope Swanson of Bristol Bay Christian Learning Center in Naknek and a poem by Erin Pederson of Chignik Lagoon for the Manager’s Choice award at our local refuge!  Every participant receives a certificate, and winners also receive prizes. We appreciate every creative and thoughtful entry in this year’s contest, and we look forward to future submissions next spring. 

 

Bailey Anderson, an 11th Grader at Chignik Lagoon School, won the grand prize in this year’s Alaska Migratory Bird Calendar Contest!

Spectacular Shorebirds by the sea,
Who migrate far and wide for all to see,
You Squawk, caw, and cry
About all the wondrous sights
Of shores you’ve see.
Migrating north or south in the seasons,
To escape the winter cold,
To find the summer warmth,
Nomads of the air,
Who move where you please.
Come back and tell me
Of all the sights you’ve seen
And all the flights you’ve taken.
Come back to see me.
 
Alaska Peninsula/Becharof Refuge Manager’s Choice for Literature was
Erin Pederson from Chignik Lagoon!
 
Flying from place to place
They almost never leave a trace.
Except for their prints in the sand,
When they finally settle on land.
Never staying for very long,
They only pause to rest their wings,
And then they fly away,
Looking for their homes along the way.
They settle and caw,
Abiding nature’s lay.
Making a nest,
They can finally rest.
Ending their journey,
They finally stay
And don’t have to feel the wind blowing them away.

 

Last Updated: Aug 22, 2012
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