Becoming one with nature…sort of

We were at training from September 8-10th. Normally, when teachers are sent to training, they go to a public location that can accommodate the vast number of teachers and the technology necessary to train them; this usually ends up being a church with a large fellowship hall, a campus auditorium, or a place we call Jim Miles–a professional development center. (Yeah…I don’t know) You can imagine my surprise when we were told to attend this three day training at Circle B Bar Reserve. The realization went something like this: “Seriously? The nature reserve? Really…? Cool!”

I can’t even begin to describe how awesome this place really is! There are 1260+ acres of environmental lands to explore on this property, not to mention all the advanced classrooms, the presentations, and the nature! The only problem I found with this training, quickly, is that while it’s nice to see out windows and see the beautiful scenery, it’s hard to sit still and absorb new information when adventure and exploration are staring at you through pristine windows, beckoning “Come out and play!” (Wow…that was a little creepy…think inviting in a non-creepy way) When you’re a teacher, you become a gold medal Olympic eater (less than 20 minutes) so when you’re given 90 minutes for lunch, you really have no idea what to do with yourself. We ate lunch sitting on the bleachers of an outdoor stage and spent some time playing detective: owl droppings throughout the enclosure provided some interesting discoveries. On our second morning at the Reserve, we saw a family of wild boars, a flock of turkeys, and a golden eagle. We quickly decided it was worth coming back on Sunday and exploring when the weather wasn’t 100+ degrees. We even learned a new word while in our classroom (which was decked-out from floor to ceiling with all things “nature”): scat=animal droppings. We had our nephew in mind when we learned this word .

Sunday morning 7:30am: up and ready to go. We’re at the Reserve by 8:00 and it’s already sweltering hot. After something less than a discussion, we’re heading towards Alligator Alley (ooooh!) and before we get 100 steps from the parking lot, Mike’s stepped on a snake. With a black back, orange belly, and white stripe around its head, we have no idea what it is, but it slithers away angrily–must be OK–and we continue on our way. Take a right at the giant spider and a left at the flock of turkeys and we’re already at Lake Hancock. Surprisingly, there are several people enjoying the beautiful Florida nature this morning. Several herons and spiders later, we finally see what we’ve been looking for: an alligator. Lurking in the swampiness of the goopy water, he stares back at us disapprovingly as the camera captures his glare for eternity. Despite the original hesitant atmosphere of this polluted waterworks, we will definitely return to this place in the future. As the cleanup project begins, we thank God for little favors: “The property was jointly purchased in 2000 be the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Polk County’s Environmental Lands Program. This parcel will play a key role in the preservation efforts of the Upper Peace River restoration” from http://www.polk-county.net/subpage.aspx?menu_id=52&nav=res&id=6040.

Obviously, we walked away from our training educated on new methods of improving education, but we also left with a sense of necessity for this program; the water is green with pollution, the animals have had to adapt to continue living here, and there are so many ways we can contribute to the restoration of this watershed. I’m glad we received such a differentiated education this last week; sometimes, a reality check is all we need to get ourselves in the correct mindset–whether it was intentional or not, I’m grateful we were at Circle B.