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Thank you to Oxford Elementary School!

We were thrilled to learn recently that Oxford Elementary School (OES) students had voted to award a very generous check of $1,000 to Maine Audubon as part of a recent project they’ve been doing on citizen science.

As part of their work, students invited author Loree Griffin Burns to talk with them about citizen science. Loree in turn identified three conservation organizations that engage in citizen science, and the students set about studying the groups and making the case as to which should receive the donation.

Fifth Grade Teach Melissa Guerrette explains it in her blog post:

Oxford Elementary School photo by Melissa Guerrette
Oxford Elementary School fifth graders voted to award $1,000 to Maine Audubon. (Image courtesy of Melissa Guerrette)

By design, Loree’s two-day visit was the culmination of four weeks of research, opinion writing, and persuasive speeches by our fifth graders who were tasked with educating the students of OES about three conservation organizations that are dear to Loree, her research, and her books. At the end of every presentation, fifth grade helpers assisted in conducting the school-wide vote in which every student, kindergarten through sixth grade, had a chance to vote for one organization to receive a generous $1,000 donation from Loree. Each team of fifth graders would come back from a presentation with a stack of ballots for me, and I counted along the way to keep the count manageable. I can honestly tell you that the race was close…the whole way. However, at the end of Loree’s second day, she met more informally with the fifth graders who had done so much work and announced that the final winner was Maine Audubon. While all three organization were worthy recipients, Loree told the fifth graders she was glad that the donation would support an organization in Maine where they are living, playing, and growing.

Later, Director of Conservation Sally Stockwell visited the class to talk about Maine Audubon, our work, and how this generous donation will be put to good use conserving Maine’s wildlife and habitat:

After Sally’s presentation, she also received some wonderful handwritten notes from students in the class:

Oxford Elementary School student letter Oxford Elementary School student letter Oxford Elementary School student letter


On behalf of all of us at Maine Audubon: Thank you, Oxford Elementary School students! We’re honored by your donation. If you’re ever near a Maine Audubon sanctuary, please stop in and say hello!