"Critters and Caterpillars" Zoologist for the day hands-on event

School:: WISE Pre-K
Subject:: Teaching Quality
Teacher:: Tyana Kendall
Students Impacted:: 120
Grade:: Pre-K
Date:: October 3, 2022

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

The Alys Foundation - $918.90

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 120

Dear Walton Education Foundation Board and The Alys Foundation,

I work at WISE Center Pre-K in DeFuniak Springs. I wanted to thank the Board for everything you did for our school this year. The Board funded a large portion of our grant requests. The board specifically funded my grant "Critters and Caterpillars" This grant was for all 120 Pre-K students at WISE. Our students were overjoyed to be a Zoologist for the day. They learned how to be calm when touching live animals, and how to care for them. Students also learned about life cycles and were able to experience a full butterfly cycle for over two weeks in their classrooms. These lessons will continue to be talked about for years to come from these students because of you! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your investment was well received and thoroughly enjoyed by many. Walton Education Foundation makes a huge difference in Walton County students’ lives. Thank You!

Sincerely,

Tyana Kendall

WISE Pre-K, Lead Teacher

Original Grant Overview

Goal

The goal of this grant is to bring hands-on interaction and connection between young students and wildlife. Pre-k curriculum teaches students about animals, nature, habitats, and life cycles. What a great experience to be able to allow children to interact with and touch real-life animals in the student’s environment where they feel most comfortable. Students will learn about the needs of animals like what they eat, where they live, how long they live and so much more. Each class will receive a butterfly kit with 5 caterpillars. They will get to observe the life cycle and watch step by step what happens. Releasing the butterflies at the end of the project brings the understanding of the full cycle.

What will be done with my students

Nonie’s Ark will bring 7 animals for the students to interact with. She will present various information about the habitats, diets, and lifecycles of the animals. She will spend one hour with each group allowing students to touch and take pictures with the animals. These groups will be 30 students or less to get the most out of the experience. Nonie and her animals will travel over two days to meet our student’s needs in small group settings.

Benefits to my students

The knowledge learned during the hands-on event will be taken back to the classroom and discussed throughout the curriculum units. A child's natural curiosity leads to their exploration of science concepts and it extends to social studies, language, math, and more. Due to some of our student’s disabilities, they need extra time and attention to process, so the small group setting inside our school where they are comfortable will allow them more opportunities than other experiences outside the school. This will be a huge benefit for students to make connections from this hands-on experience.

Budget Narrative

Nonie's Ark will come on two days to insure maximum times with each group. She will hold two sessions on each day. The students will spend 1 hour learning about then animals and at the end will receive a safari hat for being a Zoologist for the day.
Each classroom (11 rooms) will receive one starter kit of caterpillars to watch and release as butterflies.