Individual questions from the video interview with Mike Lubbock
Dan Louk, education coordinator, Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park
Q. What role does education play in Sylvan Heights' success?
A. Education has played a major role in our success here. First of all, it's one of the major aspects we emphasize in our mission statement, along with conservation and research. It's played a big part not only in teaching people about the birds we have here, but also in teaching about wetland ecology and about habitats and species interact in the habitats. We find that a lot of teachers and students who come here for our programs get a good, solid background about Sylvan Heights and about birds, so when they come back to visit on their own or with their families, they already have a lot of knowledge about the park.
Q. Have you seen a good response from the local community to the park's educational opportunities?
A. Yes, we really have. We get a lot of positive response to what we have to offer. And we don't only have the public, private and home schools in the area coming here; a lot of 4-H clubs, boy and girls club, youths groups, and other types of organization also come to tour the park and take advantage of our programming.
It's important to remember that northeastern NC is one of the most economically depressed areas in the state and maybe even in the country. So, it's been difficult for schools to find the funding to go out and take field trips to see something like this. It's an all-day trip to go somewhere like Ocracoke or other neighboring towns and cities. But now, they have a place nearby where they can take advantage the educational opportunities we have to offer. And it's even still difficult, so that's why we're doing everything we can to raise funds to help school be able to come out. It's a slow process, but it's building.
Something we're doing now because this year has been so up and down, in terms of the economy - many school have seen their funding cut and schools are finding it difficult to get out here - we've developed a sponsorship program in which Sylvan Heights members and people in the community can sign up to sponsor schools to come here for our programming. Sponsorships from the North Carolina Zoo for the research projects have been extremely helpful. And so far, this sponsorship program has helped five schools take advantage of our projects and programming.
Q. What plans do you have to expand educational programming?
A. We have an evaluation process in which every group would participates in our programming fills out an evaluation form that asks basic questions about our programming. We want to make sure that we are teaching the right material and we're meeting their standards and state standards.
We're also trying to make our programming as hand-on and interactive as possible. We have two programs, the Tundra Swan Migration research project and the Wetland Ecological and Biological program that are especially hands-on. In the Wetlands program, schools can come for two three-hour programs to learn about things like water test sampling, looking for aquatic invertebrates, and discovering how they can test the quality of the ecosystem. Also as part of this project, older students, like seniors doing a senior project, can come do an extensive semester- or year-long project and we help them along as research experts. In the Tundra Swan project students come in for two three-hour programs and we take them out into the field with radio tracking devices and compasses to track the tundra swans. Then we also use our Google Earth site, too, to track the birds that have tracking-devices as they migrate. It really lets them get involved with real-world, hands-on research, and lets us combine our research mission with education.
And, any schools that sign for the wetlands or ecological programming not only get to see the collection of birds we have for educational purposed, but also our collections of reptiles, snakes and insects. We'll also be getting some alligators soon, too.
Q. What can teachers do to get the most of the Sylvan Heights experience for their class?
A. Teachers have three options in coming to Sylvan Heights. It's a great place to come if they are looking to fill time, because the students are able to go outside, get away from the school, and just tour the park on their own. To make it a little more educational, a guided tour can be scheduled if teachers book a guide, usually about two weeks in advance. That way, they can have someone go around the park and exhibits with them. The third option is to sign up for programs, which would provide a much more hands-on experience for students.
Watch the NC Now Feature
An interview with Mike Lubbock