Certified Interpretive Training

I just finished a 32-hour course on Interpretive Guiding…..it was difficult but very interesting. I have no trouble talking to anyone, anywhere, but speaking in front of a class brought back all of my shy childhood fears!!!  (Yes, I really was a shy child….so stop laughing!) But I did it and am proud to say that now I am a Certified Interpretive Guide.

Here we are the Class of CIG-2011- Okefenokee NWR

The class consisted of 3 days of instruction, then on the last day each of us had to give a 10-minute presentation on a topic of interest which relates to the environment, ecology and preservation of the area. We had to determine who we were speaking to; i.e.: 3rd graders, adults, boaters, etc. Somehow those 10-minutes became an eternity while standing up in front of the class!!

Now most of us are already doing this same thing as rangers and volunteers , however this class was to help us get our messages across more effectively.

Here are few of the programs:

Rob’s program was on canoeing safety.

  Katie’s program was on the Eastern Indigo Snake (I’m not sure where Sarah thought she would find a snake….??)

Jamie’s was directed to a 3rd-grade class and involved a song and dance about ‘habitat’. (All these grown-ups had way too much fun with this……..hmmm….maybe 2nd childhood?)

    

Yep, that’s me forgetting where I am in my program about the history of early settlers in the swamp and Chesser Island Homestead. Preserving the past to protect the future.

     

In Jenn’s program Frank was a longleaf pine and Sarah (in orange vest) was the biologist measuring the growth of the tree.

Colleen is an intern here on the refuge (as is Katie) and she talked about her first love , birds of prey, this time the owl .

This is my friend, Joey, who is 7th generation in and around the Okefenokee and his wife is 8th generation. He has been a boat tour guide here in the swamp for many years, and could not understand why we had to go through all this stuff!!!

But his program was by far the best I have ever see, anywhere, and that is because he spoke from his heart about memories of his childhood with his grandfather. He related a story about ‘lightnin’ bugs’ (or fireflies) and how if you don’t see the little things in nature you miss out completely.

There was not a dry eye among us when he was done. Good job, Joey!!!

Nervous or not we all passed and what does it mean????? It means we continue doing the same talks as before, but using bigger, fancier words!!

Congratulations to us all!!!

Then yesterday we all were invited along as Ann Marie Wilson, Driftwood Environmental Center, led a group of her interns on an instructional hike in the swamp. Ann Marie is a great guide and she knows every tree and plant in the SE part of the US. She also has an enthusiastic personality that makes you want to learn, if only we could all be that excited about what we are doing!!!

Here we are discussing the difference between Longleaf Pines and Loblolly Pines (I think I can tell them apart now????)

This is a Longleaf Pine, native to the area but almost wiped out by heavy logging in the early 1900’s.

Along the way we passed pond with a mama alligator and 3 of her babies. The pictures are deceiving as the mother is only about 3.5-4 feet long and the young are only about 18'” to 20” long.

The sad part is that the alligators were way to willing to come toward us, which means that someone has been feeding them. When you feed a wild animal they begin to loose their fear of humans and in the case of these gators, they will have to be either relocated out further in the swamp where they will have no human contact or as they become more aggressive they will be disposed of.

So never feed animals in the wild because you are in reality signing their death warrant!

 

Then it was on to the Boardwalk for more learning……… I stayed behind as the “rear-guard” and did ‘visitor-talks” till they returned.

I started to notice this vulture circling and began to think he was waiting for something or someone to die, hmmmm…….was he waiting for me????

Also spotted some wild turkeys wandering through the area.

   It has been a stressful couple of weeks with working and all the classes, but life is about learning and I am continuing to do so.

 

Kay……………….learning about the Birds and the Bees!!!!