Respect for Nature:
Written by: Eileen Jordan, Math Teacher, Romig Middle School
Several years ago, we moved to Sitka with our two small children. While we were living there I had the opportunity to do my student teaching at one of the local schools. One of the lessons I was required to teach during my stint was a 3-week course on learning about the marine life on the Sitka shore. We would walk the students to the shore each day to observe and learn about the tiny marine life. The tide pools and shores were full of fish, crab, and barnacles. It was all so fascinating, but the true lesson came through for me as well as the students….we were to look, learn, appreciate, and respect the natural habitat of all the marine life we could see up close.
Many of the students had lived in Southeast Alaska their whole life and had an understanding about the marine life that depended on people leaving them alone. I learned, along with many of the new students, how just observing and not disturbing allowed the life in the small tide pools to continue to exist for years to come so the next several generations of people can see and enjoy them.
I had an opportunity to visit Sitka about 10 years after we had moved to Anchorage. I knew one of the first things I was going to do was walk through Totem Park and stroll along the shore to look at the tide pools once again. Respecting even the tiniest natural habitats is a gift we can teach our children and hopefully can be passed down to future generations.
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