lobster, school-style

A few years ago when Ella was finishing up at Highland Preschool, her grandfather came in to do a presentation of being a lobster fisherman. 

 

Now, as Maya finishes up in the same class (sniff, sniff)  he came back to do it again. 

 

It is the cutest thing ever.  Dwight could be on his own PBS show without a doubt. His downeast accent, engaging manner, and gentle yet rugged means he has the whole package.

 

Dwight brought a trap, his gear, his fishing tools and coolers full of sea life.  He told the kids about how his day starts, about his boat and how it got its name, what he loves about fishing and how one of Maine's most prominent industries works.

 

First, you must put on your oil pants.

 

 Then you have to find your unique buoy floating on the water among the countless others.

 You gaff it (grab it with a long pole), pull it in and put the rope in the hydraulic hauler until your trap surfaces.

 Then you find the treasures within.

 Dwight brought all sorts of crabs, starfish (Maya's request) and lobster for the kids to see and handle.  There were some great screeches of fear and delight.  He let the kids band the lobsters with the cool tool.

 After his presentation at Highland, we grabbed some lunch before heading to Ella's second grade class to do it all over again.

Maya was in rare form.

 

She was so excited to be Grampie's helper for the second presentation.  (That is until it was nearly done and she came to me and put her head down dramatically on my lap and said, "When is the boring thing going to be over?!")

 

 

 Second graders have a lot more questions and grasp the whole thing in a bigger way.  It was an intense hour with excited questions and anxious pleas to get a turn holding a crab or banding a lobster.

 Dwight, showing how to bait a pocket and hang it on the trap to entice the lobster.  The kids were saying, "ewwwwww!" at the baity smell.

 Ella, holding a hermit crab.

I am immensely grateful to my amazing parents-in-love for coming up to spend the day doing this for their grandchildren and for the children in their classes.  It is a such a wonderful, hands-on learning experience for kids. 

The director of Highland Preschool, Tami Campbell, had the TV station come for the presentation and they did a clip for the evening news so you can see for yourself!