A class of Grade 1 and 2 students had such a successful bake sale that they're going to keep a burrowing owl fed for two years.
Kelly Gosselin's class from Sacred Heart Community School held a Christmas bake sale to try to raise $100 to adopt an owl from the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre. The sale raised $166 and thanks to a $9 donation from the school, they were able to raise enough money to adopt Chip the owl for two years.
Lori Johnson from the Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre visited Ms. Gosselin's class to teach the students about the owls and thank them for their donation.
"The kids have been learning about living things in science, so this presentation ties in well with the needs of animals and Lori, of course, will tie that into her presentation," Gosselin said. "Second of all, I wanted to teach them about giving, as opposed to receiving, especially at Christmas here."
The Interpretive Centre tours classes with two ambassador owls that are comfortable with people. Johnson brought Cricket to Sacred Heart on Thursday, Dec. 13. As the students came back inside from recess their faces lit up when they saw Johnson and her covered owl carrier.
Johnson also brought their adoption package with a picture of Chip and information about him and a certificate of ownership. Much of the funds go to feed the owls. The Interpretive Centre buys mice from a farm that raises and sells them to zoos and groups like the Interpretive Centre.
"They are so excited. They were counting down the days for this moment," said Gosselin. "They're more happy about this whole adoption process. They're excited to see the owl, but they're over the moon about adopting an owl and knowing that that's their owl and they get to take care of it for two years."
Johnson said that their Adopt-An-Owl program is one of their main fundraisers and that it is particularly popular leading into the holiday season.
During her presentation, she told the students about burrowing owls and their natural environment here on the prairies. She said that being able to see Cricket in person helps spark the students' minds about the burrowing owls.
"You can talk about endangered species, but getting to actually see one in person helps make a more personal connection," said Johnson who answered dozens of questions. "It helps drive the fact home that we have endangered species right here in Canada. It's not just the tigers and the elephants and animals like that."
Johnson was so pleased to see the young students at Sacred Heart get so enthusiastically behind the program. She hopes that by thinking about the importance of the environment around us and the living things that are there will be part of a lifelong interest in nature and the environment.
"To make a connection with the natural world is really, really important," Johnson said. "Particularly for kids this age as well, it helps start the thinking process about some of the things that they can start to do and how they can help. Eventually it's going to be these guys, that a lot of this is going to fall into their laps. Hopefully they'll have some resources to ensure that burrowing owls are around for years and years."
