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To Friends Of
Cave Creek Canyon
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Education Outreach Success!
 As
We wrote in the October newsletter, the mission statement of Friends of Cave Creek Canyon states "Our Mission is to inspire appreciation and understanding of the beauty, biodiversity and legacy of Cave Creek Canyon through volunteer work and outreach programs."
It has long been a desire for FOCCC to be able to offer a program with a
curriculum that meets Arizona educational requirements and provides a fun and educational program for bringing children and nature back together.
We are very fortunate to have Carol Frischmann to lead our program. Carol is a retired teacher living in Portal and also author of many children's nature books and articles. She is a birder, a naturalist and former Audubon chapter president.
Carol and Cecil Williams have developed an outreach program, meeting Arizona requirements. We have had students from Apache School a,d San Simon Middle School come to Portal for outreach programs. The clouds ruined the San Simon astronomy viewing, but they still were educated about the stars and telescopes by Rick Beno.
We have visited Apache School and have had two Outreach activities with the students of Apache School in Cave Creek Canyon. They wrote some very interesting comments about their adventure. You will enjoy them, as also did.
Trip to the Visitor Center
Written by Apache School Students
On Thursday, Oct. 11 we got off the bus and met the Friends of Cave Creek Canyon Ms. Frischmann and Mrs. Williams. They put us in groups of two and we identified the trees they had marked. Then, the groups talked about the trees and the leaves that matched the trees. Next we did sun pictures where we placed the leaves on special paper to make a design. Then we placed glass over the leaves and let the sun shine on it. We waited three minutes.
We could not believe our eyes at our pictures. How exciting and amazing to see our leaf design as we removed the glass and leaves off the paper.
We had lunch and took a hike as we talked about the leaves and trees we learned. Last thing we did was take leaves and placed them on laminating paper. Mrs. Williams uses a laminating machine to preserve our leaf design.
"Thank you Ms. Frischmann, Mrs. Williams, and the Friends of Cave Creek Canyon for letting us experience the wonders of the sun, trees and nature. What a marvelous day in Portal."
Students comments:
- Olivia: "I learned about all the different types of trees.
- I got to see bear scat and the acorns in it.
- When asked if people should come to Portal and see what she did, Olivia said "Yes! Portal is fun, pretty and you can learn about the birds."
- Evalynn: "sometimes the heat evaporates the water in the creek and we can't see it but it is still running underground. The water will come up in different places in the creek."
- Eli: "I learned what hawks sound like, what bear scat looked like, and what a coatimundi is. I discovered an acorn and a berry. These items are food for squirrels, bears, chipmunks,birds and coatimundis."
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Taking STEM Outdoors in December
by Carol Frischmann
[Solar Viewing at Rick & Vicki Beno's Observatory
with Jack Newton]
On December 13, in a cold, north wind, Apache School students, parent chaperones, their teacher, Loy Guzman, astronomer
Jack Newton
, FOCCC Education Coordinator Carol Frischmann, and FOCCC Board Member Cecil Williams gathered at Rick Beno's observatory to study the sun and how the sun creates the
Goldilocks zone
conditions that allow us to live on Earth.
Jack Newton explained that the sun, a star now in the quiet time in its
11-year cycle
, sends heat and light to Earth in an average of 8.2 seconds. By looking through a telescope equipped with a filter that makes viewing the otherwise damaging sun safe, our group took our first steps towards becoming
astronomers
. Students saw the sun's diameter, more than 100 times the diameter of our planet, and most were able to see the one
solar prominence
that was larger than the diameter of Earth. We learned about a something called the
Carrington Effect
which could be responsible for taking all of us "off the grid." We also discussed the
aurora borealis
, a visible effect of solar activity.
Al
though we saw amazing sights and learned a lot about the sun, what students did best was ask amazing questions. Asking good questions is turning our favorite elementary students into developing scientists.
The FOCCC Education Outreach Program,
"Taking STEM Outdoors"
is made possible by YOUR gifts to the Gerry Hernbrode Fund
and
a grant from the Arizona Community Foundation.
Outside the students viewed the sun through a different scope. Here they saw the pure white light of the sun.
Inside the dome, it was a tight fit with 7 students, parents, Carol and Cecil, along with Jack, had a wonderful
learning experience viewing the sun
and a solar prominence.
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PILOT YEAR EXPENSES
The pilot [initial] year entails a much larger expense that future years. The curricula must be developed and revised after testing, equipment
[binoculars, spotting scope, portable microscope, tablets, etc.] must be purchased, developing additional
contacts with other schools and the state, developing a Google Classroom for other schools to be able to partake in our programs and developing different activities for each month.
Pilot Year Costs are estimated to be $35,000
Great News is that we have received an
Initiative [Grant] from The Arizona
Community Foundation $25,000
Prior donations and the proceeds from
the Annual Meeting
auction
$ 5,000
REMAINDER NEEDED $5,000
FOCCC rarely asks you for a donation.
PLEASE HELP US REACH OUR GOAL AND HELP BRING
CHILDREN BACK TO NATURE!
[They both need it]
Please send your donation to PO Box 16126, Portal, AZ 85632
Thanks for your support. Any questions send to mike@foccc.org
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At the 2018 Annual Meeting the below were elected
as members of the board for 2019
FOCCC 2019 Officers and Board
Reed Peters President
Other Board Members
Sheri Ashley Vice President
Bob Ashley
Wynne Brown
Mike Williams Vice President
Alan Craig
Rene Donaldson
Rick Beno
Treasurer
Stevie Wayman Secretary
Cecil Williams
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Friends Of Cave Creek Canyon
PO Box 16126
Portal, Arizona 85632 Visit Our Website |
Thanks to our "Sustainer's Circle" members
for their generous support:
Tom Arny, Bob and Bettina Arrigoni, Nancy and Thomas Denney, Mary George, Renata Golden, Bill and Sally Hague, Paul Hirt and Linda Jakse, Don Hollister, Pi Irwin and Zsombor Zoltan, Ken Jenkins, Leuthold Family Foundation, Barbara Lounsbery, Patrick McNamara, John and Karin McQuillan, Barbara and Pete Miller, Patricia Parran, CeCe Raak, Tom Roseman and Paula Baldwin, Delia Scholes, Donald and Martha Squire and Bob and Sherry Zoellick.
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Please support our Business Members who have given generously to Friends Of Cave Creek Canyon. Without their assistance, we would be hard pressed to accomplish our goals. Click on their names to check out their websites.
Daussin & Associates Sky Islands Grill & Grocery
Casa Petra Vera
Business Memberships start at just $50.00!
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