Date: Fri 08-Aug-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

NYS-summer-camp-Cullens

Full Text:

Getting Down And Dirty At Youth Services Summer Programs

(with photos)

BY DOROTHY EVANS

The quiet and solitude of summer afternoons at the Cullens Nature Center near

Taunton Lake Road has been disturbed lately.

For the past six weeks, the silence has been broken by the sound of children's

voices wafting across the lake and through the surrounding pine trees.

Those high-pitched voices are intermingled with the deeper tones of their

teachers, Newtown Youth Services Summer Program Director Tracy Riccio and

student counselors Todd Jarvis and Michelle Shanahan.

While walking down to the lake, into the woods or across the field to the

outdoor education area, everyone is constantly talking.

"Watch how many fish are jumping today," Ms Riccio told a group of youngsters

attending Thursday's Soil and Sand class.

"What's that brown stuff in the water?"

"Is that the bottom?"

"I've got a Daddy Long Legs on my arm."

"There's a spider that lives under the dock. I see him but I don't see his

string."

"Use your walking feet, not your running feet."

"Let's look for mushrooms."

The six-week nature study program sponsored by the Newtown Youth Services has

enrolled 60 children ranging in age from kindergartners to fifth graders.

"We keep the classes short, only 90 minutes," on Mondays, Tuesdays and

Thursdays, said Jane Todorsky, Newtown Youth Services director.

The younger children have been nature detectives and the older ones are

learning about the different trees and animals, Ms Todorsky said.

It's not just the children who benefit from the classes, however.

Parent volunteer Suzanne Davenport of Sandy Hook held her young son, Bobby, by

his hand as they joined the group by the lake.

"I'm learning a lot. Besides, he won't come if I don't come, too."