When the Pandemic hit Talbot County, Chesapeake Forum and Pickering Creek Audubon Center both knew they needed to find new ways to offer classes and programs. Dr. Wayne Bell and Mary Helen Gillen of Pickering Creek Audubon Center put their heads together to create a ZOOM online platform for a birding class.
Dr. Bell will hold one Zoom webinar session a month for three months starting on September 10, 2020, with two different field trip destinations between each class. The class will allow participants to mute or unmute as they choose, which will make it easier to ask questions and contribute to the discussion. “With 12 participants in the course, we can have everyone on the screen for a class with more give and take among us all, and for field trips we can split into two groups of six to maintain social distancing.”Field trips will be shorter (8am to 11am) and local.The selected short list includes Black Walnut Point at Tilghman Island, Pickering Creek, the Oxford conservation park, and even some private lands through the generous permission of the landowners. This multi session course is $15, and no birding experience is needed.
Zoom courses are live with interactive dialogue in real time. The webinar classes are also being recorded and accessed via a link so that you may watch at your convenience if you miss the class or simply want to audit. Chesapeake Forum will offer Zoom training sessions for registrants who are unfamiliar with the technology. You will learn how to sign in and be comfortable joining classroom discussions. The goal is to prepare you to participate fully in our virtual classrooms.
Mary Helen Gillen says “Wayne is such an approachable person. He responds to questions with stories that explain… ‘oh, and we also learned this other thing.’ Such a wealth of knowledge that he easily shares.” “It’s a win-win partnering for us with Pickering Creek,” Bell concludes, “At heart I’m a community guy… working together is important!” Registration is available starting August 24th. To register for the course, or for more information about Chesapeake Forum Fall 2020 classes go to our website at https://chesapeakeforum.org/ or visit us on Facebook.
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