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December 2009 Newsletter

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Gifts That Keep On Giving

by Allan Berkowitz, Executive Director

At this time of year we give thanks…and we give presents. Our thoughts turn to those who are important to us: family members, friends, colleagues, and business acquaintances. We reflect on the blessings in our lives and we reflect on the tangible items that will communicate our feelings.

As you set about your shopping, we offer up three unique and creative opportunities for your consideration; three ways to give a gift and double your impact.

1. Season’s Greenings: The Gift of Knowledge

Through our Season’s Greenings program you sponsor a school science program in honor of that special person. Your tax-deductible contribution to Environmental Volunteers will bring environmental stewardship to local students and a smile to that special someone.

We will send a beautiful Season’s Greenings Honor Card to the person (people) you wish to honor.

So, consider what you would spend on a holiday gift. Donate that amount instead to Environmental Volunteers. That special someone who is important to you will appreciate your generosity and our local schools will be inspired by the wonders of the natural world.

Donate online at www.EVols.org/donate or contact the office.

2. Give Them a Redwood Tree, A Bumble Bee, or a Red Poppy

We are very excited to launch our online store featuring beautiful nature photography by Judy Kramer, of Earth Witness Photography. Because Judy donates her photographic images to the EV, you can give a gift of enduring beauty while making a donation to support our educational work.

Beautiful wildflowers, landscapes, the range of textures and colors in nature: these images truly are breathtaking.

Go to http://www.shop.EVols.org and give them a tree, a bee, or a poppy.

3. Partner With the IRS and Our Kids Win!

Did you know that you can take advantage of federal legislation that allows a tax-exempt donation of IRA assets to non-profits? Through December 31, the IRS allows you to donate assets from an IRA. Some of the key criteria include:

  • The donor must be 70 1/2 years old at the time of donation.
  • The gift is not tax-deductible but it is tax-exempt!
  • The gift must be transferred directly from the IRA to the non-profit.
  • Maximum amount is $100,000.

This is a great opportunity to avoid paying additional taxes on your IRA distribution. Contact us for more information and for assistance in transferring an IRA. What a wonderful way to reduce your tax burden and build environmental stewardship among our local youth.

From all of us at the Environmental Volunteers, we wish you Season’s Greenings. May this be a safe and joyous end of year for all…and may you be blessed with a wonderful new year.

For 10 Ways to Green Your Holidays, go to http://www.EVols.org/seasons_greenings.htm

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School Services Update

by Anita Rodriguez-McCaffrey, Program Services Coordinator

Dear EVs,

Here we are in December and we are doing great in the School Programs department. We have already scheduled services in January and February. Soon we will put Leads out for March and April!! In no time, we will be done with another year of programs. Thanks to all of you, we did 18 more services this November than in 2008. We were able to take several teachers off the wait list with the contribution of our new interns. Also, in January our pool of EVs will increase with a new batch of EVs ready to graduate! Keep those sign-ups coming! :)


Please take a look at November stats; it shows that we reached 520 more children than last year this month.
SERVICE STATS

November 2009

 
         Peninsula
          South Bay
            Total
Services

Classrooms
27
23
50

Field Trips

7
12
19

       Total Services

34
35
69
Students

Classrooms
671
567
1,238

Field Trips

177
306
483

       Total Students

848
873
1,721
Volunteers

Lead EVs

31
30
60

EVs/Classroom
69
57
126

EVs/Field Trips

21
34
55
        Total Volunteers
121
121
242
Volunteer Hours      
         Lead Hours
62
60
122
         EVs/Classroom Hours
104
86
189
         EVs/Field Trip Hours
42
68
110
         Total Volunteer Hours
208
214
421

Also, here are some great thank-you notes from students at Cumberland 5th grade. Enjoy!

Dear Volunteers:
"I appreciate you teaching us about earthquakes. My favorite activity was the building house one. Since we are build our "dream house" in architecture, I think I 'll make my house house earthquake proof. I also enjoyed the puzzle activity. It showed where most earthquake fault lines were. One of my favorite facts was about Panjea. (I don't know if I spelled it right, though. sorry if I didn't). I didn't know that the plates caused that either. Thanks a bunch! Sincerely, Angel"

Dear Environmental Volunteers:
"Thank you for coming into my class and teaching us about the plates of the earth. It was really interesting and fun. The thing I liked the was the slide show, it was awesome! The projector was also super cool too. I learned a lot when you came and this would go on forever if I told all of them, so I'll only tell you a few. One thing was the mantel is a liquid that really fascinated me! One other thing is that continental plates collide it forms mountains! It really was fun! Kayley"

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Training Preparation Assistance

by Brittany Sabol, Education & Training Director

Thank you to everyone who helped us stuff binders for this year’s training courses.  We’ve had such a great response to recruitment that we don’t have enough binders to make it through the year!  So we need your help one more time.

Making copies: We need 1-2 people to come in some time in December (whenever it fits your schedule) to make all the copies for the binders.

Binder stuffing: We need 3-8 people to come in on Wednesday January 6th starting at 11:00 am to put all the copies in the right binders.

Contact brittany@evols.org, if you are available to help.

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Spring Training Schedule

 
Looking to add a new subject area to your repertoire?  Maybe you want to review some kits, or learn a new one?  As always, any volunteer with up to date paperwork, including dues and TB tests, may drop in for any training class.  We only ask that you RSVP to Brittany so if there are last minute changes to the agenda, she can make sure you are informed.

Next Session: Explorations in Ecology

South Bay Office

Fridays 9:00 – 1:30 (except as noted)

January 8 All About Birds

January 15 Forest & Foothills Ecology

January 22 Baylands Ecology

January 29 Marine Ecology (10:30 – 3:00)

February 5 Nature in Your Neighborhood (Urban Ecology)

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Survey Says!

by John Armstrong, Outreach and Communitcations Coordinator

Dear EVs,

After surveying trainees in our last two training sessions (Aug and Oct), we found that most folks heard about training from their EV friends... you! Thanks so much for helping us meet our recruiting goals. We had over 20 people on the first day of our October training.

Our recent “Forward email” campaign went quite well – 15 of you forwarded the training emails to over 60 of your acquaintances resulting in some serious inquiries and a few trainees. To show our thanks, we will be awarding gifts to several EVs at our holiday party.

Next Training

So, what can we do as an encore? As you know, we have an upcoming training class on January 8 in the South Bay. Here are a few ideas on how you can help us have another full training:

- Refer you friends to our training Website (http://evols.org/training.htm), or have them call Brittany
- Post our “pull-tab” flyers at your local Starbucks, Whole Foods, and other bulletin boards – especially in the South

   Bay. These actually work! We’ve had several trainees from these sources. Please pick up the flyers at either the

   South Bay or Peninsula offices.
- Mention our training at other venues you attend: Sierra Club; Sense of Place; Acterra; and hiking clubs. Again,

   several trainee referrals came from these places

Surveys show that these are the top three sources for our new volunteers – if you have any other ideas, please contact me and we’ll get the word out. The other top source of volunteers comes from Web postings and I’ve updated postings at such places as Craigslist, Volunteer Match, and Bay Nature. Let me know of other great Websites as well and we’ll get our ads posted there.

Thanks again for all your help with recruiting – you can help us take teachers and schools off the waiting list, and bring nature and science to more of our local kids.

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Who's News: Judy Kramer

by Jan Whitmer

 

Judy Kramer is truly an EV at heart and in spirit. Introduced to the organization through her husband Tony, Judy has enriched the EV with her beautiful photography. She has taken photos for the Ecocenter project at the Baylands, for our annual reports and for our website. And she has donated her wonderful nature note cards to our online store. Judy has also done photography for The Peninsula Open Space Trust, the California Council of Land Trusts, and the Anza-Borrego Foundation.

             

Her interest in photography became a serious avocation about five years ago when Judy “discovered” the digital camera. She says that digital photography allows her control over all aspects of a project from framing the shot to adjustments on the computer to printing the photo. Judy’s specialty is wildflower close-ups, although she loves photographing all of nature. She is very active in the Palo Alto Camera Club, having served as its co-president for several years.

Growing up in the rolling farm country outside Indianapolis, Indiana, Judy attributes her love of nature to spending time on her own exploring the woods behind her house, checking out spring wildflowers. As a bonus, she learned to climb barbed wire fences without getting snagged!

After graduating from Stanford with a degree in mathematics, Judy went on to get her teaching credential and taught math for 5 years, both in San Jose and in Palo Alto at Gunn High School. She also earned a Master’s degree in math from San Jose State, but chose to work fulltime raising her two children.

Judy is particularly interested in women’s issues and is a member of a donor circle of the Women’s Foundation of California, a group that awards grants to programs addressing economic equality issues for women and girls. She was Board president of the Palo Alto YWCA during the stressful period of its closing and is currently active in the Kiwanis Club, which helped to cleanup our Sea Scout building. Judy also served on State Senator Joe Simitian’s staff for four years when he was on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.

For fun, Judy enjoys reading mysteries, especially those with an historical background. She and Tony regularly participate in international folk dancing and have since college days. And they love spending one day a week with their 3-year-old grandson, introducing him to the wonders of nature! We are fortunate, indeed, to benefit from Judy’s generous spirit and her commitment to the environment.

To see and support Judy's work you can visit the EV Store or visit Judy's website.

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Northern Elephant Seals

by Lila Jones, Intern

 

December marks the beginning of the northern elephant seal breeding season on the Pacific Coast.  Once hunted almost to extinction for the oil made from their blubber, these animals are making an amazing comeback.  There are now about 160,000 northern elephant seals.

Northern elephant seals spend most of their time at sea, diving about 300 to 1000 feet to catch fish.  They feed on about 30 different types of fish.  They are preyed on by killer whales and sharks.  They live in the waters along the Pacific Coast from Baja California to Alaska, but come ashore to breed.  Four of the seven main breeding areas are off the coast of California.  Large colonies can be observed at  Año Nuevo State Reserve, Piedras Blancas Lighthouse, Morro Bay State Park and the Farallon Islands.

 

The male elephant seals come to shore first.  They are about fourteen to sixteen feet long and weigh about 5000 pounds.  They have a very prominent elephant trunk like nose, which is where they got their name.  The males fight bloody battles to claim territory.  The successful males will breed with many females.  Some males never breed.  Males fast during the three months they are on shore.

In late December the pregnant female elephant seals will arrive and give birth.  The females will fast for the five weeks they are on shore.  Each female will nurse her pup for about one month.  The females are about ten to twelve feet long and weigh much less than the males.  24 days after giving birth the females form harems of 30 to 100 and begin mating.  After mating, the females desert their pups and go back to sea.  By the middle of March all you will see on the beaches is the weaners, which have already grown from about 75 pounds to 250-350 pounds.  They teach themselves to swim and by the end of April they head out to sea too.

The elephant seals can also be seen on shore during the summer months when they come back to molt. Año Nuevo State Reserve offers guided walks for the public to view the northern elephant seals, while still protecting them.  This is a very popular attraction, so buy your tickets early if you plan to go.   They also have a “Sealcam” so that you can view the seals any time they are there.  Check it out at http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25732.

Sources:

California State Parks: www.parks.ca.gov

National Geographic: www.animals.nationalgeographic.com

 

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EV Holiday Party & Graduation

 

Please don't forget to come to the

EV Holiday Party and Graduation!

We all hope to see you there.

 

Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Time: 10:00 - 2:00 pm
at home of Jan & Bob Fenwick

28011 Elena Rd., Los Altos Hills

Bring food for 8 to share and your 2009-10 calendar for the Area Meeting!

10:00 - 10:20 Socializing & Coffee
10:20 - 10:45 Greetings & Announcements
10:45 - 11:15 Graduation & Volunteer Recognition
11:15 - 11:45 Enrichment
11:45 - 12:15 Area Meetings
12:15 - 2:00 Festive Food Feast

Carpooling is suggested. Very limited parking at Jan's House. For carpooling, please meet at 9:45 at baseball field on Purissima Rd. (on right just past Elena Rd.). Drive your hybrid for a photo opportunity at 9:30 at the baseball field.

If you need directions, contact justyne@evols.org.

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EVs Share What's On Their Mind

 

 

 Scat Rap by Scatman (Bob Dodge)

Scatman sez this about that
There ain't nuthin better than lookin at scat.
Scat from the fox an
Scat from the cat,
Ain't nuthin better than lookin at that.

Children go "YUCK, You pickin up that?"
Ain't nuthin better than lookin at scat.
Lookin for bones an
Lookin for hair,
Lookin for evidence I know's in there.

Now I've found insect an I've found snake
and a little bit of cherry, for goodness sake.
A little bit of this an
A little bit of that.
Ain't nothin better than lookin at scat.

Now if you’re wonderin why I’m like that,
Always bendin over and pickin up scat.
Jes don’t you worry an
don’t you fret,
It’s as close to nature as I’ll ever get.

Leni Silberman shares a Haiku from:

The Cuckoo's Haiku and Other Birding Poems by Michael J. Rosen:

wild turkeys' snow tracks
their arrows point us one way
they go the other

 

 

If there's anything on your mind that you would like to share with EVs (including community events, quotes, etc.) please send it to justyne@evols.org.

________________________

Photo Credits

School Services Update & Spring Training Schedule: Judy Kramer

Who's News: Tony Kramer

Northern Elephant Seals: Lila Jones

EVs Share What's on Their Mind : Vandy Shrader and http://www.watersheds.org/nature/tracks.htm

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