A Message From Our President, Gary Pigg...

Gary Pigg
President

NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE Act of 2007 H.R. 3036

Greetings to you and your family during this holiday season.

As the title of this message infers there is a serious movement to get children outside and introduce them to the natural world. The bill cites one example of the unintended consequence of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 the children are being systematically deprived of important environmental education. This has lead to a "nature-deficit disorder" in the lives of many children. There is a website powered by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation that has more information and a short video on YouTube makes a good point of reference.

We at The Discovery Center have worked for over 50 years to introduce young people to the natural world. You are invited bring your family Monday through Saturday to enjoy a natural experience. Our peaceful park is open to you. If you are here on Saturday from noon to three you can enjoy one of our exciting Saturday Science classes. Our annual Winter Science Camps are also a great way expose your children to a unique nature experience.

Our staff and board are dedicated to making science and nature study interesting and fun for our visitors. This last month we added two new Trustees to the board. Each of these new members brings special skills and talents to the mix. Tina Smith has worked as a volunteer leader for the annual BabyFest program and brings a lot of organizing skills and knowledge of the very young and Moms in general. Amanda Crump is an Environmental Horticulture Advisor and scientist with the University of California Agricultural & Natural Resources - Cooperative Extension. She brings her experience as scientist to Garden of the Sun.

I want to make a personal appeal to our readers to consider The Discovery Center in your year-end giving. We consider it an honor to service our community but we need your contributions to pay the staff that present our Camps and classes and maintain the grounds of our park. We do not receive any government funds. Our only funding is from your gifts and fees for services. We take seriously our financial responsibilities and we are happy to provide our audited financial statements to the public. This is now available on the Donors page of our website. If you wish to include the Center in your estate planning, please contact me directly.

Again, best wishes to you and your family this holiday season! We look forward to seeing you enjoy the park this winter.

Sincerely,
Gary L Pigg
MBA
President
The Discovery Center
(o) 559-438-7040
president@thediscoverycenter.net