The Pennsylvania Game Commission has agreed to fund a pilot run of the program called Bird By Bird (BBB). The program seeks to use place-based education to increase students’ knowledge of their environment. BBB uses birding methodologies to teach basic research skills. This is a true cross-curricular endeavor as all subject areas will be touched upon throughout the program.
At the core of the program are four guest speaker appearances that will take place throughout the school year. The first guest speaker, Jordan Sanford, visited our seventh grade students on September 29. Jordan is the head of wildlife education of PA Game Commission. She introduced the program to our students, accessed their prior knowledge, and went over what to expect — vocabulary, materials, resources, etc. — with the Bird by Bird initiative.
During the third week of October, every seventh grade student will play a role in setting up bird feeders on our own campus. This will mark the beginning stages of the project as they will start to collect citizen science data in the weeks to follow!
Under the guidance and partnership of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Bird by Bird program will be spearheaded by Mrs. Siebka-Witmer at NTSD. We are beyond thrilled for our students to have this incredibly special opportunity as this is the very first time that the program has been conducted with students on the East Coast!