Antrim Elementary School recently hosted its inaugural Animal Symposium Night, where parents, their families and staff learned more about outdoor animals.
About 175 people from across the ConVal School District attended the event, during which they read stories, played games and learned more about owls through taxidermy models. Representatives of the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock offered a presentation to students in pre-K to fourth grade. Third- and fourth-graders also showed off their bird and animal projects.
“The project was good. We started in January learning about an animal. We made trifold presentations, a diorama or model, and a field guide,” third-grader Collins Harris stated. “It took time and patience. We learned a lot about birds, and we drew range maps. It felt good to share our work and get appreciation for all the work we did.”
Fourth-grader Marie Moenter stated, “I really liked doing the project and learning about the river otter, which is the animal I chose. I liked reading about them and watching videos of them. I was a little nervous about presenting my animal, but I answered everyone’s questions.”
Thanks to Title 1 funding, each student in third and fourth grade received a bird field guide and a publication that included all of their animal projects. Every student in the school was able to take home a Stokes Field Guide to share with their families.
“Symposium Night was a terrific success,” Antrim Elementary School Principal Stephanie Syre-Hager stated. “It was exciting to see so many people attend, and to watch our students share what they had learned while creating their projects.”