Two weeks ago Rotary welcomed the Phoenix School as the students gave a presentation on their recent trip to the Everglades.
Prior to leaving, students completed research on what to expect when they arrived in Florida, specifically the plants and animals they might encounter. Upon arriving in the Everglades, the students were amazed at how many alligators they saw, along with the amount of wading birds, especially little blue herons.
The presentation included drawings, photos, sketches, and excerpts from journals that the students kept while on the trip.
The highlights of the trip included a solo walk at night when they first arrived. The focus of this walk was to use their ears instead of their eyes, and they certainly heard a lot of sounds in the darkness.
This was followed by walking the Anhinga Trail the next day where the students saw many alligators, mangroves, and water lilies.
Another highlight of the trip was the Slough Slog where the students got right in the waters with alligators and cypress trees nearby. They came out of the water soggy but happy!
Students also went canoeing down a canal, which they loved. They did have to pay attention and got very wet, especially Charlie who fell in the water. They saw lots of wildlife while on the canoes, notably crocodiles and many birds.
The trip wrapped up with a 15-mile bike ride where the students had the chance to climb a tour. A final highlight was a trip to “Robert Was Here”, a fruit stand that makes delicious smoothies that has been around for 63 years.
The Phoenix School students stayed at a hostel in Florida where they got work done, journaled, ate, and had fun. It even had a huge treehouse!
When the trip was wrapping up, students reviewed their journals and compared notes. It was clearly a trip of a lifetime where students learned a lot about the natural world.