Educational Programs

The Friends of Matanzas Pass Preserve began providing school-based programs in 2011. Lee County Parks and Recreation made the rights available for several Earth Education programs developed by Steve Van Matre (www.eartheducation.org). One such program for 3rd graders is Home Sweet Home. This program is a highly participatory and stimulating ecological concept building learning experience. The focus is upon developing a deeper understanding of one ecological concept utilizing a problem-solving story line, peer-to-peer interactions and ongoing roles for the participants. The leader sets up and directs the overall activity. Participants take on the roles of various plants and animals and engage in a Home Tour of three natural ecosystems. They must find the appropriate community in which to live. Along the way, they learn that all living things live in a community. As in all good stories there is a twist in the plot and the children must discover a way around what happens. Other programs that are offered include Magic Spots for 3rd graders as well as Connection Inspection and Ed' Diary for 4th graders.

This interactive program was provided to over 200 children in our first year and the schools served were Heights Elementary IB World School, Fort Myers Beach Elementary and Bonita Springs Elementary. Since that first year, we have added programs for Tice and Gulf Elementary Schools. Funding is being provided by the Fort Myers Beach Community Foundation and the Friends of Matanzas Pass
Preserve and we are very grateful!

Since our first year, we have served five schools and 865 children through our programs. Our 2015 3rd and 4th grade brochures contain the essence of these programs. You can access the 3rd grade brochure here and the 4th grade brochure here.