Milo's third grade class is doing a field study of the Amazon wetlands in Eugene. Along with several parent volunteers and their teachers, all 24 of them walk to the wetlands twice a week to observe the different ecosystems in and around the wetlands, draw what they see, and research points of interest.
Last week I had the honor of being one of those parent volunteers. I was in charge of a group of five (mostly) sweet kids, including Milo. We spent our time down near the water, looking at bugs and plants from different vantage points. It's a big responsibility for these kids to keep their act together and their voices low for an hour in the woods. But as Milo's teacher Kathy said: "we are serious biologists and artists, and we can handle it."
Kathy has been a teacher for so long that some of Milo's friends' parents had her when they were in elementary school. She's strict and no-nonsense - traits that had me nervous when I first met her. But I've had the chance to get to know her a little over the past few weeks, and I am starting to form a much more generous opinion of her. She's clearly dedicated to teaching. Somehow she manages to be creative, while being a stickler about rules and keeping the behavior of her 24 students in check. Milo's a bit of a stickler about rules (and fairness) himself, so I'm starting to see this as a good match.
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