One of the best shows on local television here on Kaua`i is put on by His Honor, Mayor Bernard Carvalho. January 24, the Mayor’s staff arranged for the Hoike Educational Television film crew to shoot his upcoming one-hour show with our volunteers, employees, and a group of 45 third-graders from Kapa`a Elementary School.
It was so much fun for everybody. Lots of kids got on camera, being interviewed about their cave trip by the Mayor himself. Our dedicated and knowledgeable volunteers, both regular Sunday tour docents and nine employees from Grove Farm Company, led sub-groups of the students (and the Mayor) through four rotating stations. In two hours, every student got to tour the cave, hike the nature trail, plant trees along the beach, and collect data on the tortoises. The film was done!
The classes especially seemed to enjoy the “Tortoise Hide ‘n’ Seek” game in the tortoise paddocks. They searched several acres of restored native forest for 11 giant tortoises, and noted their shell number on a simple map. For them, it was like searching for huge Easter Eggs with legs. For us, it’s useful time-stamped location and nearest-neighbor data for our ongoing study of the ecology and behavior of these kid-pleasing lawn-mowers.
The Mayor and Dr. Burney, with Kapaa Students
If you get Kaua`i Cable Television, check Channel 53 over the next few days for the show, which will run intermittently for about a week. Next month, tune in to this newsletter for a link to the show archives on the web.