2nd Graders' Work in Wisconsin is
"Key" to Helping Manatees

Mr. Nottestad's 2nd Grade Class raised funds for manatees by selling manatee key chains.

In Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, 16 second graders worked extremely hard in Mr. Nick Nottestad's class, and it paid off. In an effort to help save an endangered species, they were able to raise over $1,004 by making and selling manatee key chains in their school and community. Over the past three years, Mr. Nottestad's second graders have come up with a different key chain design each year and have been able to send Save the Manatee Club a total of $1,780 for manatee conservation efforts.    

The students create manatee key chains in their "Tiki Town" classroom.

A creative teacher, Mr. Nottestad helped his students get into the spirit of things by creating a tropical paradise in their classroom. Dubbed "Tiki Town," the classroom includes a hut with a thatched roof, palm trees, shells, and other touches of the sea. They even included signs from Key West streets such as Caroline Street and Mallory Square. The students also created a paper mache manatee and a manatee "nook" with pictures of the manatees they had adopted from Save the Manatee Club's Adopt-A-Manatee program.

The manatee nook

A guy can dream...

"I want to give thanks to the Central-Denison family and the Lake Geneva
community for supporting our manatee key chain drive," said Mr. Nottestad. "I have yet to see my first manatee. We will continue to support the Club so I, and many generations to come, will have the opportunity to enjoy our good friends, the manatees."

An ardent Parrot Head (as you can tell from the photos!), he added, "Jimmy, we will miss you at Alpine, and I came up short for Wrigley."  However, we have a feeling it won't be too long before Mr. Nottestad makes it to another Jimmy Buffett concert.

He believes that this fundraising program has been an experience that his students will never forget.  "I hope it has engrained in them a life time of responsibility and respect for endangered animals all over the world," he said. 

The finished product!

 

Mr. Nottestad and his creative crew

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