Grant Funds Audubon Ecology Kits in Classrooms From left, Yellville-Summit teacher Ann Jones and two students, Abby and Buck Stoops, talk with Marg Bangert of the Audubon Society of North Central Arkansas, and Fred Berry, a member of the South Shore Foundation board of directors, about Audubon Adventures, ecology kits. The study materials are used in third through sixth grade classrooms in six Marion and Boone County schools, thanks to a grant from the South Shore Foundation to the Audubon Society of North Central Arkansas. Ms. Jones has coordinated use of the Audubon teaching materials for several years.

Elementary and middle school students in six area schools will once again have ecology kits, Audubon Adventures from the National Audubon Society, in their classrooms next school year. A grant of $2,944 from the South Shore Foundation to the Audubon Society of North Central Arkansas will finance the continuing project in Bergman, Flippin, Lead Hill, Yellville-Summit, Omaha, and Bruno-Pyatt schools.

Marg Bangert of Midway chairs the project for the Audubon Society of North Central Arkansas, and South Shore Foundation is the charitable organization of Northern Arkansas Telephone Company at Flippin. Each student receives newspaper-style Audubon Adventures lessons and ideas for fun outdoor activities. Each teacher also receives a classroom resource manual and other material.

Ms. Bangert said in the grant request for 2008-2009, “Audubon Adventures is a tool to teach children the importance of taking care of our environment and all of nature within it.” She said about 2,050 students will receive the kits due to this grant. Also, she plans to attend the May meeting of the South Shore Foundation to show the board how the ecology kits are used in the classrooms. Each year’s materials follow a different theme, such as next year’s “Feats of Nature” with lessons entitled Migration, Animal Builders, Animal Defenses, and Plants, Ms. Bangert said.

Sixty-four classrooms of students in third through sixth grades receive the classroom kits, which present basic, scientifically accurate facts about birds, wildlife, and their habitats, according to the Audubon Society.  

The Audubon Society of North Central Arkansas welcomes all persons interested in birds and their habitat, Ms. Bangert said. The organization meets the second Monday of each month at 1 p.m. at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Mountain Home. For more information about the South Shore Foundation, call 1-800-775-6682.

NATCO is an independent telecommunications company, family owned since 1951, providing telephone service to six exchanges: Bull Shoals, Diamond City, Flippin, Lead Hill, Omaha and Pyatt. The website address of NATCO is www.natconet.com. Its Internet division, NATCO Technologies, provides Internet services throughout northern Arkansas and southern Missouri.