Educational Programs

Public Outreach

Education has been an essential part of the mission of Wolf Hollow since it was founded, and our education program has gradually developed over the years. The aim of this program is to increase peoples' interest in and understanding of the wildlife living around them, and to increase their awareness of the impacts of human activities on wildlife and their habitats. We employ a full time Education Coordinator, whose duties include: producing our newsletter "Wild Times," writing articles for newspapers and magazines, working with radio and television stations, running our internship program, producing informational displays for public events, caring for and working with our educational animals, and organizing and implementing our educational outreach program.

Wild Times Newsletter Archive:

Educational Outreach Program

Hello! My name is Shona, I am Education Coordinator here at Wolf Hollow, and I would like to tell you a little about our Educational Outreach Program. When I say "education," I mean education in its broadest sense, not just in school, and not just for children. Our outreach program is intended for people of all types and ages, from kindergarten to senior citizens, people who live in our local area, and folks who are just visiting for a few days, children in school classes or in summer camps, organized groups such as the Scouts and informal gatherings of families who just happen to be staying at the local campground. My job is to help people learn more about local wildlife, to spark their interest in the many wild creatures that live all around us, and make people aware of the ways our activities impact these animals. Of course, with such a wide "audience," our program has to be varied.

In any week I may:

Send information to a 5th grader who is doing a class project on seals
Give a slide show on "Wildlife on the San Juan Islands" to an Elder Hostel Group
Use educational artifacts such as feathers and skulls to illustrate points to a school class studying birds
Set up our educational displays and booth at a local event
Lead some wildlife activities for kids at an outdoor education camp
Use one of our educational birds in a presentation on "Human Impacts on Wildlife"
Spend an evening answering questions about local wildlife at a campground

Some presentations are at regularly schedules times, such as evening talks at parks and campgrounds each week during the summer months (watch our education calendar for times). But, mostly presentations are done "by invitation." Teachers or group leaders invite me to give presentations or lead activities on a particular wildlife topic. If you live in San Juan or Skagit Counties, and would like to learn more about local wildlife, human impacts on wildlife, or what we do at Wolf Hollow, please call Shona at 360-378-5000, email: saitken@wolfhollowwildlife.org.