Join us October 10th for the Montana Natural History Center’s Annual Dinner and Auction
6 p.m. at the Ranch Club on Mullan Rd.
Enjoy the evening and help re-connect children to nature
In a state rich with natural resources, huge landscapes, clean rivers and boundless opportunities for outdoor recreation, children are still distracted by television, video games and computers, spending less time outside. To boot, recent increases in fuel costs have made field trips prohibitively expensive for most schools and teachers working in economically disadvantaged schools around Missoula report that many of their students have never visited local natural areas, making the Visiting Naturalist in the Schools program offered by the Montana Natural History Center to local area schools critical for re-connecting children to nature.
Through a unique curriculum design, volunteer and staff naturalists work in 4th and 5th grade classes to introduce the study of natural history. Students and naturalists explore such topics as weather using simple tools, practice the art and science of field sketching, use binoculars to observe birds and other wildlife, learn about form and function in nature, investigate the school yard habitat and discover the biodiversity right outside the school building. Two times during the year, naturalists meet their students for a full-day field trip in a local park or recreation area.
This year’s auction is dedicated to helping us grow this highly successful and incredibly critical program.
Join us: tickets are $ 45.00 for members and $50.00 for non-members
“In our school district, 50% of our elementary student population is on free or reduced lunches. In everyday terms, that means half of my students are at or below poverty level. These are students whose parents don’t take them to museums, who don’t have cable TV or library cards. The Visiting Naturalist in the Schools program through the Montana Natural History Center gives my students the opportunity to discuss, interact and participate in the study of our world and its resources in ways they are unable to do at home. I have had students who were completely unaware that there even was such a career as a naturalist exclaim ‘I plan to be a naturalist when I grow up!’”
– 4th Grade Teacher, Alberton School
“Thank you so much for teaching us this year! I had a blast! I loved the field trip! We saw a hummingbird that was really pretty and we found 22 different kinds of plants. Well, thanks. I learned a bunch!”
– 5th Grade Student, Lolo School
