Most
students only visit the Reserve once during their school age years. However,
with Claremore High School on “block” scheduling we have the opportunity to see
the General Biology, Zoology, and Advanced Placement Biology students 4 times a
semester. The Natural Resource Management class will visit us 8 to 10 times this
Semester. With this many visits we are able to build a rapport with the students
as well as conduct more in depth lessons. While we at the Reserve have never
been known for doing things just like everyone else, occasionally even we are
surprised with lessons we create. This week we were discussing the
Administrative aspect of Natural Resource Management. A topic viewed by many as
not very exciting. So to create a more lively approach and a better
understanding, we had the students roll play as members of the United States
Fish and Wildlife Services (USFWS) committee, oil company executives, and
environmental activists. The oil company executives had to build a case for
drilling in a USFWS Refuge. The environmentalists had to build a case against
drilling. The USFWS committee members had to hear both sides of the case and
then based on the information given, make a decision on the proposed drilling.
The students took to the rolls assigned to them with great passion. As you can
see from the photos the whole class was involved and active in the exercise. We
hope that while many students may have come to this class with a negative or no
opinion about the subject, they left with an understanding that there is more to
administration than they had previously thought.
Robert Gibbs, Conservation Education Coordinator