Hello, everyone.  Hope you’re all having a great week.  This is what LEEP has been up to lately:

On Tuesday, October 16, LEEP’s Bio Bus took the James Island Middle School MGAP students to Folly Beach for a little hands-on experience in the field.  As usual, the MGAP kids continue to impress us, and they did very well in the lesson.  They learned about the coastal ecosystem through experiential observation and even found time to play some games on the beach. 

LEEP has just received a grant from the Alcoa Foundation for Board Development.  This grant allow LEEP to send board members to various training sessions.  Additionally, LEEP’s board meetings will include mini developmental seminars.  This grant will be significant in the development of administrative and organizational initiatives for LEEP.

COSTUMES FOR A CAUSE is COMING!!!!
LEEP will host its first “Costumes for a Cause” Halloween Ball on Saturday
October 27, 2007 at 10 Storehouse Row in the Navy Yard at Noisette. The
event will be held from 7:00 PM-Midnight and admission is $65/person,
$110/couple for advanced tickets $70/person, $120/couple the day of the
event. Admission includes all alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages,
heavy hors’derves, and desserts.  Visit the LEEP website for more details and to buy tickets!  It should be a great time for a great cause.  We hope to see you all there!

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost November, and we are well into our classes.  As mentioned above, James Island Middle School has classes regularly.  They welcome LEEP every Monday, and every other week their class is held out in the field, whether at the beach, marsh, or wildlife reserve.  The Charter Montessori School will begin a week-long program in November. 

Classes are held every other week at St. Stephen Elementary School in the after-school program.  Each week we have a different grade level, and for kids who have been at school all day, the fact that they are so enthusiastic and focused from 4-5pm is quite impressive!  So far we have been working on the water cycle and properties of water, and basic geology.  We’ve been in the classroom doing experiments with water tension, and outside pretending to be runoff water molecules (learning AND cleaning up the schoolyard!) and seismic waves!  The kids are doing so well, and LEEP is very excited to be working with such a great staff and student body at St. Stephen’s. 

Naturalist classes have been ongoing in the past months.  Our most recent class was held at Micheaux Center.  We were able to tour the grounds, get some wonderful teaching materials, and learn some great interactive lesson plans.  This weekend, the class will be held at Dewees Island, and will include a ferry ride.  If you are interested in the Naturalist Certification Program, please contact LEEP.

That’s all for now.  Feel free to call us here at LEEP, or send us an email, or post on the blog.  It’s here for you to use it! 

Have a great week, all!