Schoolchildren can learn about Mobile Bay from a textbook. They can read about seashells, hermit crabs, turtles, oyster farming, how pollutants affect bodies of water and so much more about what makes the Bay area unique. But a textbook does not allow a child to see the vibrant colors and geometric shapes of a turtle’s shell up close, to study a dolphin’s skeleton in person, to feel the smooth surface of a seashell. Engaging more senses allows the lesson to leap off the page and come to life. With Fisher’s Cart, kids can do all this and more without ever leaving the classroom.
For 30 years, the Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation (FEEF) has focused on providing hands-on learning experiences for Baldwin County’s public schools on FEEF’s campus as well as through the Pelican’s Nest Science Lab, summer programs and field trips. But what about kids who are too young for field trips, or those who might not have field trip opportunities available to them? Because of transportation and safety rules, most preschoolers cannot ride a bus due to age or size limitations, so they can’t go on a field trip until they meet the proper requirements. Some schools do not have the means to organize field trips, so students are limited to learning exclusively through the resources available in their classrooms. Fisher’s Cart is FEEF’s solution to these hindrances.
Each year, over 5,000 students go to Pelican’s Nest and attend field trips, but FEEF recognized a need to bring similar experiences to those unable to take their lessons outside the classroom. Thanks to a grant, Fisher’s Cart was established this past year, and now schools can request Fisher’s Cart to come directly to them.
“Fisher’s Cart is Pelican’s Nest on wheels,” explains Briana Davey, who assists with the program and field trips. “We’re able to take any of the resources that we have at Pelican’s Nest and bring them to schools. The sky’s the limit. Anything we have here, we can bring.” The program is designed to expose kids to Bay-area plants, pollinators, water life and specimens, spark their curiosity and emphasize why Mobile Bay is important. By learning about the area in this way, kids are encouraged to love and appreciate where they live.
Although Baldwin County public schools provide an educator for FEEF and Pelican’s Nest — support for which the organization is extremely grateful — Fisher’s Cart educators are employed by FEEF, and they are the ones who take the educational experiences directly to the students. “In the lab, we have all different kinds of specimens and shells, so we can adapt things on the cart based on the curriculum and the grade level,” says Molly Spain, FEEF’s board president. Fisher’s Cart can provide shells, preserved specimens like pollinator garden samples, butterflies or crabs, and even materials like cast nets. With the nets, kids can throw them outside in the grass, and this gives them a greater understanding of what it might be like to cast a net into the water. Through these experiences, children have the chance to engage with their lessons in a real, visceral way, and it allows FEEF and Pelican’s Nest to support teachers and educators.
“Our goal is to walk alongside the teachers in the classroom and make them feel supported,” Davey says. “That’s really important to us.” The Fisher’s Cart experience is easily customizable to meet the kids and teachers wherever they are in their studies. It can also be designed to prepare children for eventual field trips to Pelican’s Nest by providing early educational experiences that will be explored more deeply in the future. No one gets the same lesson twice; the Fisher’s Cart educators are careful not to overlap the material, but instead to allow lessons to build. This way, kids who learn through Fisher’s Cart will still learn something new if they go to Pelican’s Nest.
“At the end of the day, I’m just a parent, but I love FEEF,” says Spain. “Some of these kids have never been in the Bay or held a fish, so this gives them a hands-on learning experience.” It is fascinating for kids to see a preserved specimen up close, to hold a hermit crab shell and to understand more about the environment in which we live.
The Fisher’s Cart program is less than a year old, so as FEEF and Pelican’s Nest continue to grow and expand, the hope is that Fisher’s Cart will do the same and provide in-class experiences to kids of all grade levels. For now, Fisher’s Cart has mostly served younger grades, but ideally, it will expand into all grades, including high school.
“The more opportunities kids have, you never know what might change the trajectory of what they want to be or how they view the world,” says Davey. When kids are allowed to learn and explore in new ways, anything is possible. With Fisher’s Cart, children can indulge their curiosity to discover a deeper understanding and appreciation for the importance and beauty of Mobile Bay.
