Friona Playa Festival Evolves by Tonda Clark, 5th Grade Teacher Friona ISD

Friona Elementary just completed our best Playa Festival ever. The tradition continues. We are still moving forward and working to make each year more successful than the previous. With the help of the Education and Training classes from our High School and many partners we have improved and made it the best outdoor learning experience possible. This year we had a three day festival and it was great to see the student’s interacting with guest speakers, teachers and peers. The Playa Posse spent the first day of the festival in Nazareth at the outdoor Playa classroom. The students loved being outdoors. They loved learning about journaling, playa plants and animals, erosion, and more. Students loved the owls. What a great opportunity it is to see living things from nature. Thanks to Dr. Birkenfeld, Julie Boatright, Jim Steiert, Bill Johnson and Gail Barnes for making it a wonderful experience.
Students examine plants with TPWD Biologist Bill Johnson in Nazareth
The next two days were spent at Friona Community Center and Reeves Lake. The students were taught by high school education in training classes about the importance of Playa Lakes, playa habitats, and what we can do to save water. Activities created by high school students included all the curriculum areas and were connected to the fifth grade TEKS. Students used GPS units on a playa geocache, weighed and measured materials discovered in field investigations, and re-created nest from common playa inhabitants. Each student created a playa model with Randall clay and bird and plant specimens. They created nature vocabulary cards, measured the amount of water it takes to brush your teeth if you leave the water on, and created beautiful murals of the playas.
Friona 5th Graders (in red shirts) and high school education students (pink shirts) pose for a group photo at Reeves Lake in Friona
Friona elementary loves the playa experience and we have plans to inform the community about the importance of playas during our open house in March. Students want to share their new knowledge with others. It is an awesome thing to watch students past and present teaching others about our most valuable natural resources