Jimmy Karlan ’82 (New England, MST with a K-12 biology Certification) was recently featured in The Guilford Gazette. A devoted wildlife enthusiast, Karlan is a Faculty Emeritus in the Environmental Studies Department, where he was Core Faculty for 25 years and directed the Science Teacher Certification for middle and high school science teachers.
He has spent the past seven years documenting the “secret lives” of wildlife around his Guilford, VT home using eight strategically placed trail cameras. Eager to share this enthusiasm with Guilford Central School (GCS) students, Karlan launched the GCS Wildlife Camera Challenge, generously donating two high-tech cameras to be shared among all the grades. The two classes that submitted the most compelling applications were awarded the first opportunity to set up and operate the cameras.
Elementary school classes enthusiastically participated, submitting proposals that demonstrated creativity and engagement. Currently, second and fourth-grade students are responsible for setting up and operating the schools’ new cameras and have already captured some exciting images.
What began as a local initiative at GCS has evolved into a district-wide undertaking. The WSESU district has pledged to fund wildlife cameras for all elementary schools, ensuring that students across the district can engage in the valuable exploration of the wildlife surrounding their schools. This collaborative effort is poised to infuse the wonders of the natural world into the educational journey of elementary students throughout the district.
Watch a video of Karlan as he introduces the district-wide Wildlife Camera Challenge. Stay to the end of the video to watch some of the recorded wildlife!
