 Food for the animals is always a primary concern, and due to a new animal sponsorship program called AWE (Assisting Wildlife Educators), Tesseract School was able take on the feeding costs for Hedwig, the great horned owl who stars in many education outreach programs. By sponsoring Heddy, they were able to schedule an educational program about owls for their class, and receive an exclusive four-color hardbound book about Hedwig and her species.
 Halloween was the date set for the program, and the third-graders went to work raising money. They held a Read-A-Thon, where parents and family donated an amount for every 20 minutes each child read. They raised quite a lot of money….more than was required to sponsor Hedwig. It was decided that Tesseract's third-graders would sponsor all of the orphaned great horned owls raised by Liberty Wildlife foster owls in the 2007 season, thus supplying mice for 53 baby owls for their entire stay at the facility…about three months each.
On Halloween day, the group from Liberty Wildlife arrived, towing a metal cart loaded with white carriers inscribed with the red logo. More owls than Hedwig had come to Tesseract! Once the program was set to go and the children were all in their seats, and parents and teachers lined the walls, teacher Ms. Ballard had an announcement. She showed the Liberty Wildlife volunteers a large yellow sticky tape that covered a spot on the blackboard. When the sticky tape was torn away, the dollar amount raised by the class was revealed - $725! What an excellent job these kids did reading!
 The class was first introduced to Twilight, the western screech owl, all tiny and grey. Then came Frodo, the burrowing owl, with his long legs and diurnal habits. Henry the barn owl was brought out next, with his gorgeous tawny feathers and his animated curiosity about the classroom and everything inside. When he was put back in this carrier, the children chanted softly together….Hedwig, Hedwig! They could hardly wait for the star of the show.
But first they got to meet Juan, the king snake, and learn about his habits. Juan is a beautiful black-and-cream striped snake. Hedwig, Hedwig! Finally the large grey and white owl was brought into the light. There were gasps and whispers at her beauty and her size. Hedwig! The children sat listening closely as they learned about Hedwig's journey to Liberty Wildlife, and how her species lives in the wild.
 Then the children told the Liberty Wildlife volunteers about their fund-raising experience and how they all spent lots of time reading at home for two weeks to benefit the non-profit organization and Hedwig. Finally, the group played the habitat game, and the kids had to go on to their next class.
The following week, the Tesseract third-graders made handwritten, hand-illustrated thank-you cards for Liberty Wildlife. Large and laminated, they will be an excellent display at the new Liberty Wildlife facility at Papago Park in the future. And already these children have a special place in their hearts for a certain great horned owl named Hedwig.
|
