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This month on ACCESS DNR Governor Martin O'Malley visits Dunloggin Middle School and shop DNR
online for all those unique gifts! I'm Karis King, this is Access DNR, your monthly
update on the latest here at the department of natural resources.
It's December and that means holiday shopping is in full swing. DNR's online store has the
perfect gift for the outdoor enthusiast in your life, including 2014 State Park passports,
vivid calendars, cook books, magazine subscriptions, and much more! Just visit SHOPDNR.COM and
place your order by December 16 to guarantee delivery by the 25th. Or stop by the Tawes
gift shop in Annapolis for other unique items. In other news, Governor O'Malley recently
toured Dunloggin Middle School, a pioneer of his Explore and Restore your SchoolShed
initiative. Through the program, schools adopt tributaries near or on their property and
turn the restorations into learning experiences. More than 100 schools in 23 counties are now
participating. Check out Scott Hyme's video from the visit.
We come from nature and we leave the world with nature and it's a part of us. We belong
to the earth the same way it belongs to us. It is so exciting. It is so awesome.
I thought it was a fantastic experience for the kids to interact with the Governor and
an opportunity for them to really show a lot of the environmental projects that they do
at the school on a day in and day out basis. He was fantastic with the kids and I think
they were able to share and get across a lot of the key points that we are trying to teach
them as the go through Dunloggin Middle School. It was awesome to be able to show it off to
him because he actually acted like he cared and he wanted to be there so we could show
him what we have done. It's nice to have them outdoors and out of a regular classroom setting.
You can show them pictures, you can show them videos, but it doesn't match up to hands-on
learning. We can go outside and find things in the stream and use those living organisms
to determine how healthy the stream is. Their eyes light up and it's funny how you see some
kids who are very unenthusiastic in the classroom...when you get them outside of the classroom, their
entire demeanor changes. It isn't just fun. It is also good for us. When we get outside,
its exercise and it makes us feel better. Breathing in the fresh air is calming and
soothing. We are doing something that is good but is fun. I think that is what is really
good about it. We expect kids to e conceptual thinkers and there is no better teacher than
the systems that God has already given us. Being in the wetlands, you are actually part
of the learning. It's real world. It's real world application. It's hands on. It's exponential
learning. It's the students being able to actually get out there and do it and understand
it. There are ways to connect it to Math. There are ways to connect it to Social Studies.
So there are many different applications for this outdoor classroom facility and a place
where they can really get hands-on experience. Very cool. Here at Dunloggin, the kids and
the teachers are doing what we hope every school will do, which is take charge of your
stream, take charge of your creek. And if everybody makes those streams and the creeks
that runs through their schoolshed healthier, then the whole Bay will get healthier. Student
centered...student learning...students teaching adults...students teaching other students.
It is the pinnacle of where we are trying to go with this application. By not being
in the classroom, we are actually saving the world and helping everybody, really and its
just so cool to think that I could be inside doing work, but instead I'm outside and actually
saving lives right now. That's pretty cool. We love the Earth!
And that's it for this month's Access DNR. Be sure to subscribe to us on twitter, facebook
and the original newsletter. And don't forget to give us thumbs up. From everyone here at
the Department, Happy Holidays and thanks for watching!