Education Programs for Kids

Our Neighbors the Osprey

“Our Neighbors the Osprey” began in the 2016-17 school year when Oceanlake Elementary teacher Megan Strong contacted ASLC about visiting her class to introduce her kindergarteners to birds. As luck would have it, Oceanlake Elementary is positioned just across the street from one of Lincoln City’s osprey nests, giving students a chance to get to know their charismatic neighbors personally. This program has included:

  • Viewing the osprey family across the street through scopes with the help of ASLC volunteers

  • Familiarizing students with the osprey by bringing raptor feet and wings to class for students to touch and showing videos of ospreys fishing

  • Having kids measure themselves in comparison with osprey wing span to experience the size of the adult birds

  • Birding excursions with ASLC volunteers to help students learn about wildlife, their habitats, and behaviors in their local area

As the COVID pandemic has begun to abate, we will begin to reintroduce the “Our Neighbors the Osprey” to students.

Snowy Plover Education Program at St. James Santiago School

In 2019, we received a grant from National Audubon to implement an educational program for middle school students focusing on the Snowy Plover, a threatened species of shorebird present on our coast. With this grant, we were able to hold presentations, bring students on field trips, and create artwork and interpretive materials with students, all with the goal of increasing local awareness of threats to the Snowy Plovers’ habitat and the ways we can all help. This program included:

  • A visit from naturalist Amelia O’Connor who shared her knowledge of the Snowy Plover

  • Making 3-D replicas of Snowy Plovers using cotton balls

  • Teaching students how to use a scope to spot the small birds

  • A field trip to Sitka Sedge State Natural Area with experts from ASLC and Portland Audubon to view the plovers

  • Having students sketch taxidermy specimens at the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum

  • Generating artwork and text to help educate the public