Hon. CLAIBORNE PELL, 325 Old Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. AUDUBON SOCIETY OF RHODE ISLAND, DEAR SENATOR PELL: It is our understanding that the Environmental Quality Education Bill-S. 3151-is currently before your Senate Sub-committee on Education. We are informed that hearings have been completed and the bill is now ready for action by the committee. As the oldest and largest environmental education organization in Rhode Island, we would like you to know that we believe the provisions of S. 3151 for making environmental education available to students throughout the country may be one of the most important pieces of legislation considered by Congress for some time. We can speak from long experience in evaluating the job public school systems have done in this state and other New England states relative to environmental education over the past 25 years or more. To say that it has been inadequate would be a gross understatement. In most instances, it has been nonexistent for at least 50 years. It is quite likely that many of our environmental problems today are due at least in part to this blank in our educational process. Audubon Societies and other conservation organizations have for years attempted to fill the gap left in public education with various kinds of programs in public schools, outdoor educational activities at wildlife refuges, trailside museums, outdoor recrational centers, nature centers and other similar activities. Obviously, we have not been equal to the job but in performing it, we have gained considerable experience and knowledge. Assuming that S. 3151 will receive favorable consideration by the Congress, we hope to be able to make much of this experience and knowledge available to the public and private school systems and other educational institutions. From personal knowledge, I can attest that many other Audubon and similar environmental education organizations stand ready to offer the same services and facilities. The principal obstacle for us in handling large numbers of youngsters and teacher trainees effectively in our own programs has been inability to obtain sufficient private financial support to hire staff equal to the volume of demand. It has been nearly as difficult to finance the construction of educational centers with commpletely private solicitation. While this oganization and the Massachusetts Audubon Society have for years carried out a more or less financially self-sustaining educational program in the school systems of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, increasingly tight public school budgets are making this less and less an effective approach. The quality of the work has never been questioned by any educator or educational institution. However, the anomaly of a public school system hiring an outside agency to do a job which it obviously should be doing itself makes it difficult to sell this kind of program to local school committees and finance committees. When budget cuts are inevitable, we, as outsiders in the system, are always the first to go. In order that you may have some idea of the type of program to which I refer, I enclose a brochure on the program we have been providing to the public school system in this state. Your personal sponsorship of much of the recent progress and interest in marine research and development is ample evidence of your recognition of the value of basic environmental education for all people. I urge you to use all the considerable persuasive powers at your command to obtain favorable consideration of this most important legislation by the Congress. Thank you for your time and attention. Enclosure. ALFRED L. HAWKES, Executive Director. This is the age of great enthusiasm for trying things out, sharing discoveries, and for asking how and why things happen. IN 1955 the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, in response to public demand, initiated its School Program in Natural Sciences and Conservation. This program involves making a teacher-specialist trained in science and conservation available to schools on a contract basis for bi-weekly classes throughout the school year. These classes serve two important functions. First, they introduce the students to science through the study of the things about which they are already curious. The course answers many of the questions the youngsters have about the animals, plants, and minerals they find in their own wanderings and reading and at the same time stimulates new questions about these fields of knowledge. Information is presented in such a way that it leads the child toward the fuller understanding of the basic biological and physical principles which govern existence on Earth. In this way it is nearly ideal preparation for science courses which will be taken later in school, especially since a wide variety of natural sciences come under discussion. The second function of this course is to demonstrate to parents, teachers, and school administrators that this is a significant and vital phase of education often omitted from the curriculum for lack of trained teachers to do the work. The response in the classroom and the enthusiastic approval received from parents and professional educators alike indicate that the aims of this course are being accomplished with outstanding success. While the basic objective of the course is to provide some understanding of the interrelationships among plants and animals and their environment, another very definite result of these lessons is the development of an awareness of what these natural objects are, how they may be found, and why they are important in the life of the individual, the community, State and Nation. |