Golda Meir Craniacs

Jan Weiler, 3rd grade teacher at Golda Meir School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, recently sent us several pictures from her class field trip to the International Crane Foundation (ICF) in October. Jan noted that it was a cool, cloudy day with the students at ICF and in the field in Briggsville, WI, where they learned about the mission of ICF, the cranes on display in the ICF exhibit area, and cranes in the wild in Briggsville, where they saw Sandhill Cranes in newly cut fields.

The students gathered in the ICF Visitor Center to begin their tour - check out their Golda Meir Craniacs hats!

The class then met up with Joan Garland, ICF's Outreach Coordinator, for the tour of ICF. The students learned how scientists dress in a crane costume while raising Whooping Cranes for release into the wild, so the chicks do not imprint on humans.

The students also talked with Zhang Juan, educator from Beijing Brooks Education Center, who taught the students about the migration of Siberian and Red-crowned Cranes in East Asia. Zhang Juan was in Wisconsin for the teacher exchange portion of the Three White Cranes project.

On the way home to Milwaukee, the class stopped at Neenah Creek Elementary School in Briggsville, WI to talk with Anne Lacy, ICF's Sandhill Crane Project Manager. She showed the students how she tracks cranes banded with radio transmitters and studies them in the wild.

Thank you to Jan and her class for sharing their experience with us! If you would like to share a story about a recent class activity or project, please email us at trackingcranes@savingcranes.org.