Long Elementary students take walk along Hugh Ramsey Nature Park

HARLINGEN - Nine weeks of "hitting the books" culminated Wednesday with a trip to Hugh Ramsey Nature Park for Long Elementary Students.

About 25 first- through fifth-grade students in the gifted and talented program visited the park as part of their education on endangered species and the environment.

Gifted and talented program teacher Leslie Wilder said exposing students to the plants and wildlife at the park made the 9-week lesson relative in their lives.

"Just learning about it in the classroom isn't the same as being out here," Wilder said. "I want kids to appreciate nature and also the specialness of the Rio Grande Valley."

Fifth-grader Daniella Rodriguez saw prickly pear cactus, mesquite trees and "very exotic" orange bees.

"I think it's good that we are learning about this because we can get more into the environment and help save the environment - a lot of things have been done to kill the environment," Daniella said.

Krikett White, also a fifth-grader, said the more people learn about the environment, the more they will know about preservation.

Krikett's favorite thing to see at the park was a cardinal in a tree because it was "such a brilliant red" and because she is a Harlingen High School Cardinal's fan.

Diann Ballesteros, a Texas Master Naturalist at the park, taught the students about native plants.

"I think it's very important for the youth of today to be connected to nature," Ballesteros said. "They live such fast-paced life and few of them actually have a chance to be out and get into nature. This park provides a very safe place for them to come out. "

Students are the future and it is important that they learn about nature at an early age, Ballesteros said.

Christian De La Rosa, a second-grade student, helped pick up trash at Ramsey Park.

"We think it's important to help the environment because it's really important to save it and help us get more oxygen from these plants,"
Christian said. "All these people have been messing up the environment and we are here to help the it get better."

Preserving the natural environment benefits people and animal habitats, Christian said.

Christina Mild, another Texas Master Naturalist at the park, said she hopes the students will return to the park and see what new plants and animals there are in the future.

"I'm hoping that they just see how fun it is to be outdoors and I'm hoping that in the future, if they move away and they go away to school, that this will be one of the places that they want to come back and see."