I need your help...
Maybe you don’t know that I can see you – well, not YOU in
particular. But I can see which
countries stop by for a visit. I
know how many times you visit and I know which of my posts you are
reading. I know that many of you
stumble into my little universe via Google or Bing on your quest for pictures
of my Magic Tree House themed classroom.
I surmise then that many of you are teachers like me.
I am hoping you will now be willing to “out” yourself in a
big way and help me with a project that’s kind of a big deal to me. I won’t even make you message me
privately. I will post my name and
school mailing address at the end of this and you can just dig a few ounces of
dirt out of your petunia bed and pop it right into the mail. I would love a return address so that
the Darlings can send a proper thank you.
But if you choose to remain anonymous, I respect that too.
I’ll put the old bus in reverse for a moment…
While in college “The Sequel” a couple of years ago, a
methods instructor mentioned that she always made sure to pack zip top plastic
bags whenever she traveled for the purpose of bringing a little of the local
soil back to her classroom. I was
instantly intrigued. I made notes
to myself to do the same when I stopped mortgaging my children in order to pay
for college in order to become a teacher who would never make enough money to
justify the cost of college… oops… did I say that out loud?
Fast forward three years and I am still loving this chosen career
path and finding it incredibly rewarding and challenging. Kids are the most wonderful creatures
on earth and they make me smile every day. And sure enough, I kept my promise to myself and started
asking friends and family to help me begin my own collection of soils and
sands. I was unprepared for the
enthusiastic response. I have
blogged about it several times – both the funny anecdotes and the heartwarming
tugs – so I’ll not drive down that freeway today. But please take a moment and read through them for a taste
of what this project has become. I
think it will inspire you.
The aforementioned methods professor asked me last spring if
she could come visit my classroom just for the fun of it. I was honored. In the course of that afternoon she and
I visited about my acclimation to teaching, fun ideas I incorporate into lesson
planning, you know… the sort of scintillating trivia that would put a
hyperactive poodle to sleep. When
she found out I had followed in her dirty footsteps, she wanted to hear
more. That conversation got her
wheels turning.
She recently asked if I would be willing to write about it
with her. That got even more wheels turning. We decided to jointly teach a thematic unit on the
properties of soil and its importance to life on Planet Earth. We’ll begin doing that this very week.
Here’s where I need YOU, my blogosphere world readers. If you are at all interested in the
goings on of a little school on the big prairie and a quasi-hippie, middle-aged
new teacher, then I would love/adore/be-ever-so-grateful to anyone who would be
willing to send a few ounces of your local soil or sand to my students,
affectionately known to me as The Darlings.
Here’s why it is important to me:
I am determined that my students will understand that there
is a big, wonderful world beyond the borders of their native North Dakota. I want them to understand that there
are deserts and jungles and sand dunes and skyscrapers and that learning about
all of it is an intoxicating adventure into understanding that life is full of
options for them. Knowledge is
empowerment.
A couple of days ago I got a box in the mail, handed to me
by our high school English teacher.
She had begged her teacher-parents to send some Alaskan soil from a
remote island north of the Bering Strait.
They complied. Oh boy, did
they ever. The box handed to me
nearly had me doing cartwheels.
The soil is not dirt at all.
It is black, fine sand.
Also in the box was a small piece of sealskin, several beautiful sea
shells, something called flower stone, and (wait for it….), Mastodon
ivory!! Wait… what?? Part B of this incredible fortune was a
slide show done by journalist that visited the island. Apparently, scientists flock to this
remote spot at the top of the world because of an alarming rate of temperature
increase that is causing the permafrost to not be quite so permanent and their
shorelines to erode at an astonishing rate.
Now I ask you… do you think my Children of the Prairie will
ever have the opportunity to visit northern Alaska or walk on beaches that are
quickly being gobbled by the sea?
No, I doubt most will ever make it past our bordering states. This is a cause of sadness to me, for
travel expands the mind and creates new vistas of understanding. BUT, through the tactile experiences of squishing wet sand through the fingers
that hold the reins of their 4-H show goats, they can know that moisture
on their tiny hands is the ocean itself - a complete wonderment
to my landlocked children. They can make surmises about growing healthy crops and take a tremendous amount of pride in the rich, fertile soil of their home state. And maybe, just maybe, dream of visiting the places we point to on the ancient globe I salvaged from the dumpster.
I wish I could pay you for your time and trouble. I cannot. You will have to pay the shipping costs and know that your
reward will be in expanded thinking for the children of farmers and ranchers
and oil field workers. You will
not get the benefit of seeing their little eyes glow with excitement when a new
package shows up in our classroom, but you can be assured that its delivery
will be the precursor to a lengthy discussion about your spot found on our salvaged globe, a Google search to find all the
information we can, an aerial Google Earth fly-by, and comparisons of your soil
to ours and other countries or states.
So I am asking…
Please consider sending us a soil donation. I know it is nervy to ask. People are busy. Money is tight, etc., etc. But where my students are concerned I
am shamelessly nervy. I assume
that people will be delighted to help a complete stranger with lofty education
goals for her students.
I am old enough to be slightly blown away by the fact that these words can be read by literally anyone, anywhere. The world is so small anymore and the potential impact is astonishingly large.
So thank you in advance. I would so appreciate it if you would post this on your
Facebook page. Hey, it won’t cost
you a dime and MAYBE, just maybe, someone in your circle of influence will be
intrigued enough by a tiny prairie school to take a moment out of their life and add to our growing soil collection.
Maybe…
I am annoyingly
optimistic about stuff like that.
Looking forward to The World in Our Mailbox,
Vonda
Send samples Care Of:
Mrs. Vonda Dahl
Wing Public School
Wing, ND 58494
Other related blog
posts:
Places we have
samples from:
States:
Alaska
Arizona
California
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New York
North Carolina
Oregon
South Carolina
South Dakota
Texas
Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Countries:
England
Germany
France
Netherlands
