Actors are spicing up the education program at Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Education staff there are using creative dramatics to introduce school children to the estuarine ecosystem.
"This is one of the main things people remember about the program," says Glen Alexander, Padilla Bay education coordinator. "It's humorous and it's interactive."
"Estuary Soup" is performed almost daily by education staff at the Washington reserve to illustrate for second- through sixth-grade students—and occasional adult groups—"how the different parts of the estuary come together to form the estuary," Alexander says. The skit involves a chef who gets the audience to help him mix the ingredients together to make an estuary.
"When we first bring the students into the theatre, we go over the vocabulary," such as detritus, phytoplankton, and zooplankton, Alexander explains. "I tell them they are very lucky because today we have a special guest—a friend of mine from France who is traveling around the world to find out how estuaries in different parts of the world are the same and different."
When the friend is late, Alexander or the staff member leading the group goes to the front desk and returns through a separate door wearing a chef's hat and apron and speaking in a French accent. The actor first encourages student participation by talking about "how much he loves seafood" and asking the children about their favorite seafood and if it can be found in the estuary.
"Soon they realize that one of the values of the estuary is that a large percentage of the seafood that we eat spends part or all of its life in the estuary," Alexander says.
After all the talk of food has everyone hungry, the chef pulls out a recipe for making estuary soup. A volunteer holds the recipe, which is large enough to be seen at the back of the theatre. The chef passes out the "ingredients," such as salt, water, and detritus, to audience members who, when called upon, add them to a large bowl, which is considered the bay.
"It includes all the concepts of what makes an estuary," he says. It serves as the introduction to all the other grade-related education activities that the reserve provides.
Alexander says "Estuary Soup" was developed at the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve in Oregon about 20 years ago. When Padilla Bay began its education program, he says they borrowed the idea. He notes at least one reserve in Mississippi also is using the skit.
"It's adaptable and effective," Alexander says. Other estuaries could use the skit because "the basic recipe remains the same."
While Alexander has a theatrical background, he says most of the education staff who perform the skit do not. "Each person puts their own spin on it," he says. "You don't have to do an accent, you don't have to know how to act, you just follow the script."
Alexander adds, "One objective of our program is to have fun. This is educational and you are going to learn, but at the same time we're going to enjoy ourselves. That's an important ingredient in stewardship. The more you love something, the more you take care of it."
For more information about "Estuary Soup," contact Glen Alexander at (360) 428-1558 or alex@padillabay.gov.
