Connecting Through Conservation
Delta Waterfowl staff, volunteers, and partners bring waterfowl science to special needs students in Pennsylvania
BY SADE CHAYTOR
Kayden was beaming, flashing two thumbs up after he finished assembling a wood duck nesting box. In another classroom, Charlie painted a duck silhouette, concentrating on getting the colors just the way he wanted them. Kaylee enthusiastically offered a high-five after completing her task to help build a Hen House nesting tube.
Last spring, more than 200 students from the Lancaster–Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 center-based emotional support program learned about conservation in their classrooms and during field trips to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Pennsylvania.
Through collaboration with Delta Waterfowl’s Lancaster and Swatara Creek chapters, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and many dedicated volunteers, the IU13 project provided young learners with a unique, hands-on opportunity to discover more about wildlife and conservation.
“This year, I wanted to do a mixture of agriculture and wildlife because those were the two topics my students were covering,” said Andrea Fellows, STEM teacher for Lancaster-Lebanon IU13. “Bringing in Delta Waterfowl, Middle Creek, and other community partners gave them perspectives I couldn’t provide on my own. It turned into so much more than just building bird boxes. Students were analyzing trail camera footage, tracking duck migration, and making real connections between science and their everyday lives.”
The program included classroom content as well as field-based experiences. In the weeks leading up to their trips to Middle Creek, students reviewed trail-camera footage, listened to bird audio files, and identified species using the Merlin Bird ID app. They participated in Delta Waterfowl’s Adopt-a-Hen program, tracking the migration of mallard hens via weekly GPS updates.
When the students got to Middle Creek, a 6,000-acre refuge managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, they were met with hands-on experiences that further supported everything they had been learning. They experienced bird banding by putting metal rings etched with numbers on a goose decoy and tracked duck migration activity on screen. They built wood duck nesting boxes, painted silhouettes, and called ducks. Every activity was designed to be thought-provoking and keep them engaged.
Matt Kneisley, Delta Waterfowl senior regional director, said the experience was just as transformative for him as it was for the kids.
“When Andrea (Fellows) reached out, I knew this was the opportunity I had been waiting for,” he said. “These kids taught me more than I taught them—humility, patience, kindness. Seeing them light up when they tracked a duck’s migration or built a wood duck box reminded me why we do this work. Their lens is different, and it’s an incredible one to look through.”
For a lot of these learners, achievement doesn’t come naturally or easily in a traditional classroom. That’s why the design of the program was so significant: It allowed these students the opportunity to explore and investigate the outdoors in ways that met their learning needs. Teachers and volunteers described the effect as nothing short of transformative. There were smiles, high-fives, and excitement throughout the days in the field.
It truly took a community to deliver the program. Volunteers from the Lancaster and Swatara Creek Delta chapters mentored and encouraged the students. Staff from the Middle Creek Wildlife Refuge and the Pennsylvania Game Commission guided the students through various activities, engaging them through owl pellet dissections and bird identification. Faculty from IU13 worked alongside the conservation partners, teaching and supporting every student as they learned.
“Connecting children with nature opens their eyes to a whole new world,” said Emma Banta, PGC environmental education specialist. “It allows them to explore who they can become and develop a passion for wildlife conservation. Working with amazing partners like Matt Kneisley and Shane Pacine (Swatara Creek chapter chairman) from Delta Waterfowl and Andrea Fellows from IU13 just added to this experience. This project was extremely special, and it was an honor to be a part of something so unique. Watching children step out of their comfort zone and fall in love with something new is exactly why I got into a career with wildlife.”
Brian Collett, PGC environmental education specialist, said the scale of the project made it stand out.
“The outdoors doesn’t always get the attention I feel it deserves in schools, so this was exciting,” he said. “The project itself was the largest I have worked on in my time with the PGC. It was really exciting to see the kids recognize certain habitats and places here at Middle Creek when they came in person. Seeing the interest build in children is always the best part of teaching.”
The impact continued well after the field trips. IU13 teachers shared that their students were going home excited to share with their parents about banding birds or tracking ducks. Families saw their kids engaging in learning and feeling like scientists.
The learning project was about so much more than just ducks or data points. It was about discovery, about empowerment, connection, and proof that with the right partners, wildlife conservation has the potential to change classrooms, families, and futures.
“We gave the students a chance to blow a duck call and make some noise,” Kneisley said. “They loved the interaction of looking at a screen to see where their duck is migrating, and they felt like they were part of that duck’s migration. Seeing the smiles, high-fives, and accomplishment the students got out of the whole program brings me joy.”
Sade Chaytor is Delta Waterfowl’s 2025 communications intern. Article originally published in Delta Waterfowl's winter 2025 magazine.
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