Thurston Nature Center Dedicates Trail to Mike and Madelaine Conboy

Thurston Nature Center capped off a week of Earth Day celebrations by naming the trail that connects the Nature Center with Thurston Elementary School after long time supporters Mike and Madelaine Conboy.

 

For 50 years Mike and Madelaine Conboy have dedicated their time and resources by contributing care and love to the upkeep of the Thurston Nature Center for all who visit it. The Mike and Madelaine Conboy Trail was recently adopted and restored by Thurston 4^th and 5^th grade students.

And as part of the weeklong celebration of the Thurston Nature Center, Thurston student choir kicked off the weekend community stewardship-workdays by filling the nature center with beautiful songs!

To celebrate Earth Day, Thurston students participated in a variety of other events at the Nature Center:

Kindergarten students observed, discovered, and identified the variety and constituency of soils and “dirt” when combined with water to make mud pies.

Kindergarten & 1^st graders learned about the parts of the plant and understanding plant life cycles, followed by planting spring vegetable plants in the Thurston Vegetable Garden.

2^nd graders learned about ladybugs and their life cycle, as well as getting the opportunity to release some live ones into one of the many habitats in the Thurston Nature Center.

3^rd graders created a new a habitat for Hummingbirds by making a garden and planting many native plants.

4^th & 5^th graders expanded their restoration activities on the trail and the surrounding paths they adopted last fall. In addition they had the opportunity to learn about the role Thurston Pond plays as an Ann Arbor City – storm water detention pond in the Miller Creek Watershed.

 

Thurston Nature Centers is one of the natural gems in our City and allows Thurston and Clague students to learn in an outdoor classroom.