Second and third-grade students at Salt Point Center (SPC) had a blast on May 13, during a visit to the Trevor Zoo in Millbrook and learned plenty about the animals that reside there. The trip was made possible by a grant from Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley.
At the beginning of the school year, SPC Principal Melissa Murphy informed her teachers about applying for grants through Community Foundations and Melanie McAvoy decided to apply for a $433 grant to visit the zoo, having never done so before. It took two months after McAvoy applied to be notified that her request was granted.
“We’ve been planning it for a while,” McAvoy said. “We had to figure out how much the expense budget would be.”
The grant covered admission to the zoo for each student and they each picked out a stuffed animal from the gift shop to take home, assuring no one was left out due to financial means. The bus ride to and from SPC was covered by Dutchess BOCES.
“If it wasn’t for the funding, we probably wouldn’t have been able to go,” McAvoy said. “This grant covered everything.”
McAvoy found that her students had a great time on the trip where they asked the tour guide many questions about the animals. The students have been learning about different animals and their habitats for science and are currently working on a related project writing about their favorite animal with some students making them out of clay for dioramas.
“A lot of them had never been on a field trip before or been to a zoo, so it was exciting,” McAvoy said of her students. “They were very into it.”
Second grader Evan had been to the zoo before, but was happy to return where he got to see his favorite animal in person.
“My favorite animal is the red panda … they’re so adorable,” he said. “It was amazing to be at the zoo.”
