Deb Waz, Conservation Outreach Educator of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, giving students the chance to interact with wildlife.
EN Grant Helps Fund Wildlife Festival at Natchez Trace Parkway
A $9,951 grant from Eastern National allowed Natchez Trace Parkway in Tupelo, Mississippi, to host a Wildlife Festival for local school groups. Over 700 students from kindergarten through sixth grade attended the three-day educational festival.
During the festival, NPS partnered with the Living Reptile Museum and Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks to present unique hands-on opportunities for students to get up close with real animals. Enhancing the Mississippi College and Career Readiness Standards for Science, the presentations engaged students and provided them with knowledge to inform their future interactions with wildlife and nature.
Exciting presentations by Terry Vandeventer of the Living Reptile Museum and Deb Waz of the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science were the highlight of the event. Lucky students were even able to interact with some of the animals after the presentations. These events were also open to the general public, giving everyone a chance to learn more about native wildlife in their local area.
Furthering the NPS Every Kid in a Park initiative, which invites fourth graders to become special ambassadors for national parks, the Wildlife Festival had four groups of fourth graders in attendance.