THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412020283
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 22 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
THE BLISTERS ON Ryan McCrary's fingers have long since faded away. But in the weeks since he cut out the paper leaves hanging in the ``Wilderness Zone,'' the Southwestern Elementary School student's enthusiasm for the environment has yet to wane.
The Wilderness Zone is a hall at the school that has been transformed into a tropical rainforest teeming with wildlife. Fourth-grade teacher Yolanda Bond's class made the nature exhibit in honor of National Geography Awareness Week, Nov. 13-19.
``Twisting the vines (out of paper) and cutting and stapling the leaves on the vines really hurt,'' said Ryan, 9. ``I had blisters on both hands for two days.
``I had fun making vines, but it makes me think it had to be very hard for God to make the Earth. I don't think God got as many blisters as us when he made the world because he didn't have to use any paper.''
According to Bond, Ryan was not the only fourth-grader suffering from sore fingers after working on the Wilderness Zone. It took her class five days cutting, gluing and learning to complete the display.
The Wilderness Zone is filled with dozens of potted green plants, which have turned the usually empty hall into a jungle. Thick, leafy vines made by Ryan and other students hang overhead, casting a dark shadow over the jungle floor.
Mother Nature's soothing chorus of chirping crickets, croaking frogs and bubbling streams pull passersby into the Wilderness Zone.
Using photographs clipped from magazines, students have decorated the hall with a ``wild collage.'' That is, one wall displays pictures of wildlife, the other wilderness territory. A menagerie of animals adorning one wall - tigers, deer, cardinals, snakes, bears, raccoons, elephants and the like - takes visitors on a visual safari.
According to Bond, hands-on educational projects like the Wilderness Zone make learning fun for children. And when students enjoy learning, they are more apt to remember the underlying lesson, she said.
``Kids will not remember everything they learn from textbooks and on paper. But I guarantee you they will remember creating the Wilderness Zone for years to come.
``Right now, these students don't even realize how much they are learning. That's why I always try to do something like this at least once a year.''
Bond believes making the Wilderness Zone has strengthened students' environmental awareness and spurred a lifelong interest in caring for the world around them.
``I think the kids learned the importance of keeping some wilderness areas wild . . . and leaving space for species other than man. They realized that people don't need to intrude upon the whole Earth.''
The work that went into making a single rainforest has left Sherita Bailey, 9, convinced that creating the Earth was no easy task.
``I wonder how God made the whole world,'' Sherita said, shaking her head in amazement. ``People can mess up the whole world by littering.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Fourth-graders Andre Copeland, left, and Allison Cocco are ready to
hang a paper bird in Southwestern Elementary's ``Wilderness Zone.''
Yolanda Bond's class transformed a hallway into a tropical
rainforest.
by CNB