"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 9, 2023

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

The St. Joe Community Foundation - $947.54

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 120

Dear Walton Education Foundation and St. Joe Company,

I am writing to express my gratitude for your generous donation to our WISE Center Pre-K program. Your contribution has helped us create countless happy memories for over 120 students this year.

Thanks to the grant, we were able to invite Nonie's Ark to bring their animals to our school for four small group instruction hands-on presentations. These presentations allowed our children to touch and hold animals they may never have seen before. They learned about different habitats, feeding, caring for, and which animals are appropriate to have as pets. This experience was truly valuable for our students.

Additionally, the grant funded our butterfly project, which is a beloved annual tradition among our eleven teachers. This project allows our students to learn about the life cycle of butterflies, and watch as caterpillar larvae turn into chrysalis and eventually emerge as beautiful butterflies.

Without your generous funding, these experiences would not have been possible for our students. We are grateful for your support and belief in our teachers.

Thank you once again for funding our grant and helping us create lasting memories for our students.

Sincerely,

Tyana Kendall

WISE Pre-K Lead Teacher

grant photo

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 an 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 time with each group. She will hold two sessions on each day. The students will spend 1 hour learning about the 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.