Science and the humanities share the goal of helping humans understand our place in the natural world. At the World Center for Birds of Prey, learn from scientists about important birds of prey conservation projects and then strike out with your Cabin teaching-writer to transform your new knowledge into wildlife-inspired poems and short stories. Birds of Prey camp will take place this year Tuesday, July 18th through Saturday, July 22nd.

Foci for Student Learning:

• Engaging with research and scientific ways of understanding the natural world to find inspiration to write creatively
• Reflective journaling to process nature and science learning
• Analyze nature/environmental creative texts to learn about craft
• Writing, thinking, and talking about conservation/environment and the role of writing in encouraging and defining these concepts
• Learn to use place as more than a backdrop
• Producing nature and science inspired poems and stories
• Reflecting on the artist’s role in questions of our natural environment and conservation
• Responding to what works in one another’s work
• Offering constructive critique for peer’s work towards revision
• Revising for publication

Essential Questions Students Will Investigate:

• What is the role of an artist in communicating honestly about the natural world?
• How do we bridge arts and sciences? How does writing do that?
• Can writers work on ideas related to conservation? The natural world?
• How do we use nature as inspiration?
• How do we write about physical experience?
• What is nature?

 

2016 Excerpts from our World Center for Birds of Prey campers

CALIFORNIA CONDORS
Sebastian Wampler
Grade 6, Boise

Their wings like
a redwood tree
as large as a giant
as loud as a
roaring, tumbling waterfall
hooked beak like the
sharpest rock
talons as strong
as diamonds
eyes so strong
they can see for miles
as invulnerable as they might seem
their life is like a twig about to be
stepped on.

 

ROBIN VERSES OWL
Reese Burak
Grade 4, Boise

Oh no! Danger danger danger! It’s . . . it’s . . . it’s an owl. It’s going to eat us and our babies with his sharp talons and beak. Fly over here. Let’s mob that owl. It’s going to eat my babies. It’s going to eat my babies. No, it’s going to eat my babies. I bet you don’t even have a nest. I have a nest. 3-2-1 kill it! Oh no. It got away. Oh no? That’s good.

 

DREAMS OF OWLS
Jane McKeon
Grade 4, Boise

Owls dream about mice scurrying through a field.
Owls dream of attacking birds.
Owls dream of sleeping while day.
Owls dream of winning a Bob dance challenge.
Owls dream of soaring through the sky looking for yummy mice.
Owls dream of having chicks and raising them to be strong and healthy.
Owls dream of all their territory enclosed by chicks hatching.
Sometimes owls dream of evil.
They dream of drinking their wonderful water.
Owls mostly like to dream of other animals.

 

OWL NIGHTMARE
Heron Rohweder
Grade 4, Boise

One night
Flying like a floating cloud
Soaring, then suddenly,
Could it be?
A million mice roaming under me.
They are all so juicy
With flavor galore.
I think I’ll eat some
And save some to store.
Problem coming.
Snowy the messenger:
Letter for me,
And guess what? I had to see
Bob the kestrel flying above me.
He soared down
And said,
“I challenge you to a dance competition.”
“You’re on.”
I wiggled and giggled
Then suddenly I moved my head.
Oh no! Bob won instead.

 

MY DREAM AS A KESTREL
Ginger Wampler
Grade 4, Boise

I woke up this morning, and I was an American kestrel. I was so confused. Where am I? Where are my arms? Where are my legs? I’m in a large room. I can’t understand myself. What am I saying? I go to my brother’s room to see if he is a bird. He is. We both go downstairs. And then go outside. We try flying but we cannot figure out how it works. We finally get it. We are soaring above the ground. It is so amazing. All the flowers and just everything. I realize that people do not know how it feels to have wings. I see something on the ground. It is a mouse. I stay still in the air. I dive . . . and grab it with my talons. It’s dying. Blood is rushing out of it. I land and eat it. Then I wake up. I’m in my bed. And I’m a human.

Hi everyone! My name is Lianne and I’ll be joining The Cabin this fall semester as one of the interns. I’m so excited to be working with such a great organization who loves to read and write as much as I do. I was first introduced to The Cabin from an email looking for teaching assistants to volunteer at The Cabin’s Summer Youth Writing Camps. I was really sad after TA-ing my last writing camp group and wanted to do more.

So now I’m here and am very excited to be working with The Cabin again. The first Cabin event I ever went to was when George Saunders lectured at The Egyptian theatre and I absolutely loved it! I thought it was amazing for an organization to spread their love of writing and reading to the public and encourage them to unleash their creativity. This fall, I am looking forward to getting to know The Cabin community more and gain a better insight on how a non-profit works. So far, there is way more to a business than I thought and how much time it takes to organize/stay on top of things.

Outside of The Cabin, I am a full-time student athlete at Boise State University- majoring in English with Teaching Emphasis. I also am a gymnast on the Boise State Gymnastics team where I will be going into my third year. Ultimately, I want to become an Elementary School Teacher. I am from a small town called Shrewsbury in Massachusetts. Most importantly, I hope to gain business skills, experience, and connections after my internship. Hope to see you stop by at the front desk!

Hi everyone! My name is Kati and I am one of the summer interns at The Cabin this year. I’m currently a student at Boise State University, where I am studying Political Science, Chinese, Nonprofit Management, and Leadership and Human Relations. It’s a mouthful!

When I’m not busy manning the front desk, you can find me working down in Hyde Park at a certain ice cream store, suffering through my summer math classes at Boise State, or working through the many items on my summer outdoor bucket list. I am so excited to have this opportunity interning at The Cabin, as it really sparks my interests, and I’ve already learned so much about working for a small nonprofit.

I’ve spent my life in Boise, and growing up, I’ve attended many of the Readings and Conversations with my parents. I have some amazing memories of meeting some incredible authors thanks to The Cabin- Junot Diaz, Markus Zusak, Karen Russell, and most recently, George Saunders. The ability to bring authors like these to Boise, is one thing that makes The Cabin so important to this city- it inspires and adds to an already thriving art scene.

For me, this internship is a massive insight into the world of nonprofit management. I’ve gotten to see all of the fun and amazing parts of working for a nonprofit, such as all the excitement of our summer camps. However, I’ve also gotten to see the less fun parts, particularly all of the time that has gone into spreadsheets — creating them, changing them, rewriting them, etc. I may have learned more about Excel in the last month than I have in my entire life!

I’m really excited for camps to begin so that I can see the results of all our labor over the past month. So far I’ve learned that working for a nonprofit can be really difficult, but makes up for it by being incredibly rewarding. Even if I get nothing else from this internship (which I know is not a possibility), The Cabin has solidified my passion for nonprofit work. Going forward into my sophomore year at Boise State, I will have a stronger motivation for my classes and the experience to pursue my passions even further. And most importantly, I will have the ultimate luxury for a college student- the knowledge of where my degree will take me after graduation.