In just a few weeks, most kids will be back in school and the new school year won’t be without its challenges. I don't want to get into the "back-to-school" debate but I do want to address the subject of education. I have the utmost respect for our teachers. The job they do is not easy; that became very obvious to many parents last spring when all of a sudden, they were involved with the teaching process.
I also have a lot of respect for the students. Kids are not learning the same way that we did: the tools have changed, the expectations are high and so are the outside pressures, but they are learning!
The other day, I received a letter that made me proud of a boy I’ve never met, and renewed my confidence in our education system:
“Dear Cindy Day,
I just got back from a canoe camping trip in Kejimkujik. Me and my parents (I’m a kid) saw lots of cool wildlife, like infant barred owls, or an otter (we think it was an otter) that lived in a hole down a stream.
One night, it was raining. My dad and me were in our tent, and dad noticed something up between the rainfly - that’s basically a second tent that goes over the first one to protect it from getting rained on - and the tent. It was a weird little bug, and it sort of looked like it had a big mouth (I’m not talking about the figure of speech) and it was hanging off the rainfly with it. Dad said that it was probably taking shelter here from the rain. Me and him looked at it for a little while longer, and then we fell asleep.
In the morning, dad and mom got out of the tent to make breakfast or something. I didn’t really feel like getting up, so I stayed in. A little while later, I remembered the critter, and I looked up to see if it was still there. It was - and a dragonfly had joined it! I didn’t quite know what to say, so when I told my parents, I just said the first word that came into my head. I poked my head out of the tent and said, “Mom! Dad! The little bug has made an ‘evolution’!
According to my dad, they were like, “Yeah, right, Leo.” But it turned out I was closer than I thought with ‘evolution’. It was actually a nymph dragonfly. They spend most of their lives in the water, then eventually they come out and hook onto a reed close to the water, or something like that for their metamorphosis. So I guess it was sort of rare that this nymph dragonfly came up to the tent at all.
Hoping you’ll find this interesting,
Leo Tucker Leinaweaver."
Leo, it was interesting and inspiring. Thank you!
Leo’s lovely letter should remind us that not all learning takes place in a classroom; nature can be the very best classroom of all.
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Cindy Day is the chief meteorologist for SaltWire Network
