Program meets schools’ economic needs, brings kids closer to nature
An innovative program designed to both help children connect with nature and allow schools to keep field trips in place in a turbulent economy is now being implemented at the Shell Factory & Nature Park.
The park – through it’s charitable foundation, The Nature Park Environmental Education Foundation Inc. – has designated funds to provide free bus transportation for school field trips.
“With schools doing budget cuts, many field trips are being canceled,” said Nature Park Director Megan Benesch. “So the Nature Park is giving back to the community by funding the school buses. It’s so important for these young children to get in touch with nature because when they are adults the burden will be on their shoulders to save our planet.”
Benesch reports that she will have about 4,000 children visit the park through the school system this year.
“And I am getting more calls about the field trips daily,” she said.
Shell Factory owners Pamela and Tom Cronin Sr. believe in the program. Besides designating existing funds from their non-profit foundation, they recently held a fund-raiser to fund even more trips for the kids.
The event was a celebrity roast of Fort Myers Councilman and mayoral candidate Randy Henderson. Numerous business and civic leaders attended to support the foundation.
“The roast of Randy Henderson was a highly decorated, wonderfully choreographed evening of fun and nonsense,” said Pamela Cronin. “It was held at Harborside Event Center, and the pirate-themed occasion brought together an eclectic mixture of people from across the community.”
Master of ceremonies and organizer Tom Cronin Sr. seemed pleased with the results.
“We raised funds for 28 field trips,” he said. “With the loss revenue for the Lee County School System, most field trips have been cut from the budget because of transportation costs. But since we are able to fund the busses, we will be able to host almost 2,000 children during the last 10 weeks of school.”
“The effort on the part of the Shell Factory will provide additional educational opportunities for our students and this is very positive for kids,” said Lee County Schools Superintendent James Browder. “I thank the Shell Factory for stepping up and helping our students.”
Local principals and teachers are delighted with the program.
One school that has taken advantage of the opportunity for the field trips is Patriot Elementary in Cape Coral.
“I am so excited and grateful that the Shell Factory Nature Park enables us to send students for field trips,” said Patriot Principal Carol Bromby. “I still remember taking my own first grader there 35 years ago.”
Teacher Iris Suarez-Colon of Patriot Elementary recently took her class on the trip.
“I think this is wonderful,” she said. “They are teaching so much about nature and loving animals, and how we need to protect them. The more information we have about animals, the more we’ll help with nature.”
She complimented Benesch on how she handled the children’s visit.
“It’s nice when you have someone who works well with children and she’s very knowledgeable,” Suarez-Colon said. “She also knows children need specific rules and she explained them right when we got here.”
Benesch spends a great deal of time designing her lectures, tailoring them specifically to each grade level.
Kindergarten teacher Annette Connolly was one of the first teachersto learn about the opportunity and has helped coordinate the trips.
“My greatest thrill was watching the faces of my students who have never been on a field trip before,” said Connolly. “The whole day was magical for so many, thanks especially to Megan for all of her excitement she showed toward all of the students touring the Nature Center.”
On the separate days of both Suarez-Colon’s and Connolly’s visits, all of the children got to see up close and personal both a newly hatched baby tortoise and a baby alligator and learned about their lives.
“Megan gave the students an interactive lesson while sharing live animals at the Nature Park classroom,” said Connolly. “The trip was extremely well scheduled and well managed.”
Parent Joyce Niblick, who accompanied her child on the trip, agreed.
“It was great, especially because it was interactive for the kids,” she said. “It gave them hands-on with the animals.”
Different groups will see different animals, said Benesch, depending on what type of animal is available the day of their trip. There are also different schedules. Patriot Elementary students got to have some free time on the Nature Park playground after the tours, something parent Kristi Trudell, who came along on the field trip, thought was an added bonus to the day.
“I think it was a great combination of children learning about different animal species, and then they also had the playground where they could release some energy,” she said.
After touring the park and their eco-lessons, Shell Factory staff, including Kathy VanderJagt, give tours of the Shell Factory exhibits within the large shops.
To learn more about the foundation and field trips, e-mail Benesch at meganb@shellfactory.com or call 995-2141.
The Shell Factory and Nature Park is located at 2787 N. Tamiami Trail in North Fort Myers.