Hawks, eagles, owls, oh my! West Sound Wildlife Shelter is the only place in Kitsap County that provides educational programs with live birds and mammals.

These programs meet Washington State’s K-12 Science Teaching Standards and can be adapted for any age. Enriching education with hands-on naturalist programs, they star the shelter’s live-animal educational ambassadors. Through this, the shelter staff say that they are planting the seeds for future stewards of the environment.

Now, the shelter has received a grant of $6,000 from the Bainbridge Community Foundation and Averill Park Fund to give these programs for free to the Bainbridge Island School District.

“This grant is truly a one of a kind gift to the children and schools of Bainbridge Island. These programs will fill up fast, given that the normal $200 fee is being waived.” said Lisa Horn, executive director of West Sound Wildlife Shelter.

With this generous grant, the shelter can give 30 free programs to K-12 classes on the island through June 30, 2018, providing the chance for local children to learn from experiencing.

These opportunities will be provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. Interested teachers can contact the shelter at education@westsoundwildlife.org.

These classes will be integrated with the current curriculum of classrooms, as the West Sound Wildlife Shelter staff and volunteers work with teachers prior to the programs specifically for that purpose.

Each program is one hour and can serve up to 40 students. Potentially, from all the programs, West Sound Wildlife Shelter could reach up to 1,200 of the island’s students.