At Shoreline Park, Audubon program brings children to wetlands At Shoreline Park, Audubon program brings children to wetlands (October 11, 2002)

By Erika Shimahara

Shoreline Park used to be a mountain of trash. But in the mid '80s, the home of 13 years worth of San Francisco's garbage underwent a makeover that transformed it into the 700-acre recreational site replete with rolling hills, trails, bike paths and fields offering views of the bay and distant hills.

The place has become a favorite of walkers, bike riders, kite flyers, runners, windsurfers and small boaters. Perhaps less obviously, the park is also a coveted site for the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society (SCVAS), which conducts its wetlands discovery program there.

Wetlands discovery is an educational program for children that aims to develop students' understanding of wetland ecology and the various forces that impact it, including the effects of human activity.

The program was founded in the mid '80s by Lynne Tennefoss, then-managing director of the Santa Clara Audubon chapter. Tennefosse asked Elaine Gould, a former elementary school teacher with San Jose Unified, and Allan Royer, with Oak Grove School District, to pilot the program. They agreed, and since then more than 3,000 children have gone through the program.

The program was historically conducted at Alviso slough, at the north end of San Jose. It moved to Shoreline Park two years ago.

"This is an incredible area in terms of diversity of habitat," said Gould, who remains a docent for wetlands discovery. She rattled off a list of the dozens of birds that can be seen flying, wading and waddling at Shoreline Park: white-tailed kites, white pelicans, mallards, herons, egrets, American avocets, black-crowned night herons, coots, Canada geese, cormorants, and more. Gould has led bird watching tours for children on behalf of the Audubon Society for nearly 15 years now.

Traditionally funded through grants, the program begins before children set foot in the park, with hands-on experience in the school cafeteria. A number of stations are set up there, in which children can examine the plants and wildlife they are apt to see in the park.

One station's theme is the food chain. It features cards with food elements that the students sort, in order. In another station, called "track stories," students study pictures of animal tracks and deduce what the animals may have been doing at the time.

At the mystery plant bag station, students place their hands in brown paper bags and describe what they feel. They get lessons in binocular use and engage in discussions featuring slides, film, and vocabulary lists to prepare them for the field trip.

Gould and Audubon Society colleague Jim Liskovec have been tinkering with the teaching materials, which, in Gould's words, are "constantly being refined." Gould says she hopes to bring the program to Mountain View schools, which have not yet participated.

Gould joined the Aubon Society in the 1970s, when she was a teacher at the Hacienda Science Magnet School in San Jose. At the time she was not particularly interested in birds. But she had always loved nature and the outdoors.

A few years after joining the society, she and her husband went to Africa with friends who were enthusiastic Audubon members. "That really got us turn on to birds," she said.

Though officially retired, Gould continues to work as a professional development coach with San Jose Unified, a position that allows her to use her many years of experience as a teacher to develop and inspire new ones. While doing this, she enjoys being an ambassador for Audubon, educating young children about nature. "I feel it's important for the children to value the natural environment," she said. "If they're going to love the natural environment, they're going to want to save it."