There was a bittersweet feeling at my last staff meeting on
Monday. I was there with the staff that I had become so accustomed too over the
past weeks. I saw them all as mentors, but more importantly as my friends. I
had worked with almost all of them throughout my time at the Creek, so they
were near and dear to my heart. I was going to end my time here and when I said
it was my last staff meeting, I could see some of them have a small look of
sadness. I didn’t dwell on it too much, but it was still saddening in the back
of my mind.
This week I was going to finish up with some traveling bird
shows that would take me to teach some different audiences in different places.
I was excited to do this, and help further my education on Birds of Prey and
non-formal education. On Tuesday, there were three of us who would be going to
the Sheetz Distribution Center for an Earth Day celebration. This was sort of a
festival, but we were just showing the birds to the employees and helping to
promote the different parts of the environment that Shaver’s Creek provides to
the public. It was a rainy day, and we probably did shows for at least 200-300
people cycling throughout the day. I really enjoyed the opportunity and we even
received some freebies from the corporation for coming to the celebration.
As I was doing a program, I saw someone taking a picture of
me. I like to think that I am a photogenic person, but I didn’t know what it
was going to be for. I realized the guy was a reporter and he asked me for my
name. I was really excited to see where the picture would end up, and it was
actually put into the Altoona Mirror newspaper. It was some good publicity for
Shaver’s Creek. The picture was pretty awesome, and I don’t mind being in the
paper as well.
On Wednesday, I got up early to take a trip to Gettysburg to
see Mr. Cremeans in action and check out their Ag program. I was blown away at
the facilities that Gettysburg had. They were very well off with equipment and
other items that really further learning to the students. There were many
projects the teachers did on their own with help from the students. I was
really impressed by the variety that was taught and how the CTC department was
run. I had never seen such a vast and well put together section of career and
tech classrooms. Needless to say, if all classrooms were like that students
would have no technological disadvantages. I left that day with a whole new
perspective on what an Ag classroom could look like, and it was very eye
opening.
Thursday was another traveling show. We would be going to
Shawnee State Park in Bedford to teach 6th graders. They were doing
these field days that broadened their knowledge going along with the
environment and ecology standards. I got to use some new birds in the
presentation, like the Red-Shouldered Hawk and the Great Horned Owl, and just
talking about them was a great new change of pace. We had some beautiful
scenery for this show overlooking a lake and even a beach! It was a gorgeous
day and even more fun teaching about birds.
You never really know where life will take you. People keep asking me what I plan on doing after graduation, but honestly I have no idea. The only thing I am doing is keeping an open mind. If there’s anything I learned from this experience it's flexibility and open-mindedness. You can’t always have a plan for something, and it’s not always in your control. Sometimes going with the flow can create the best opportunity or end product for you or the audience taught. I can’t believe I am done with student teaching, buy it was something I will never forget.
It was a pleasure to write for you.
