The Busch Wildlife Sanctuary Helps Connect Students to Nature with Virtual Field Trips

The pandemic has touched all of us, and its lingering impact on education and student development continues to offer challenges. At the same time, many organizations have stepped up with innovative and creative programming to help keep children on track and engaged in learning.

The Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, Florida, is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and serving Florida’s wildlife and natural resources. When schools went virtual and field trips were canceled, they seamlessly pivoted to virtual learning lessons. A grant from the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation helped to provide no-cost virtual visits to schools across Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.

The program is a STEM curriculum-based project enhancing science courses to connect students with nature. Through these creative environmental programs, children learn about and participate in conservation efforts to protect and preserve Florida's wildlife and natural habitats.

“When COVID hit, we ramped up virtual environmental education programs to help people stay connected to the world around them when they could not visit in person,” said Busch Wildlife Sanctuary Assistant Director Lisa Wynne. “We originally expected to reach 1,000 children but exceeded our impact and reached nearly 3,000 students and forty teachers, ranging from preschool to high school.”

Founded in 1983, the Sanctuary protects and restores native wildlife and the environment. Their mission is to inspire and educate the community in leading local conservation and wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release efforts.

Supporting our Foundation’s mission to promote initiatives that seek to better our world utilizing nature and the sciences, the Sanctuary project supplemented science curriculum and increased student awareness and sensitivity to the environment.

The program provided students with an up-close look at nature in action. They were introduced to animal patients cared for in the Sanctuary’s wildlife hospital, studied owls, participated in hands-on learning with an owl pellet dissection, and learned about the flora and fauna of South Florida.

“Students and teachers loved it. The impact of this project enabled children to continue to learn about nature and science in a year of upheaval to the normal school year. We are thankful to the Bailey Foundation for their support,” Wynne said.

To learn more about The Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, visit www.buschwildlife.org.