Making connections thru making masks

Sixth graders complete an endangered species project 

The students of Autumn Stevick and Jennifer Metsler are not just passive learners, but active investigators, as evidenced in a recent project at Thurgood Marshall Middle School. A total of 140 sixth-grade scientists recently had the unique opportunity to delve into the world of endangered species and see various species not as mere statistics but as individual animals with unique stories.   

Volunteers from Restoring Earth Connections presented them with information about what causes “critters” to become threatened and then endangered, the Federal Endangered Species Act, and what can be done to protect these endangered beings. They started with the endangered species in Washington State, then the USA, and finally over the various continents, truly becoming global environmentalists in the process. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists over 44,000 endangered species. 

Restoring Earth Connections founder Lynn Fitz-Hugh explained, “They were encouraged to pick the critter they wanted to be an advocate for. They were also asked to research the following questions: What is your critter’s needed habitat? What does it eat? What is causing it to be endangered? And what needs to happen to protect it?”  

Divided into two-person teams, the project’s output was a write-up on an individual species of their choice and the making of that animal’s mask as a 3-D human-sized animal portrait. Note that the students could choose any animal on the list. Surprisingly, they chose the familiar over the exotic, and though they could choose among 44,000, many children across the various classrooms chose the same animals! 

Forty-one of these masks are now on public display throughout the 2nd floor of Olympia’s City Hall. Hugh commented, “Many of the children are only loaning us their masks, but they wanted them displayed because they wanted adults to know about the threats to these critters.”  

When asked for a comment on this project for JOLT, Mrs. Stevick said, "I'm so proud of our TMMS students for their work advocating for endangered species. My hope is that this display reminds all of us that we (yes, whoever you are) have the power to make meaningful changes (big or small) that benefit everyone in the ecosystem we share." 

Shirley Stirling, of Lacey, writes about good things people in Thurston County are doing. If you’d like to nominate someone to be profiled, contact her at shirley@theJOLTnews.com or comment below.