Although North Shore residents are fortunate to see wolves now and then, like this pup captured in a David R. Johnson photo, there are many who have never seen one. The International Wolf Center is doing its best to offer the opportunity to see wolves and to learn more about them. The Wolf Center was recently honored for its work with a Pinnacle Award from the Center for Interactive Learning Collaboration.
The International Wolf Center has been chosen to receive the coveted Pinnacle Award from the Center for Interactive Learning Collaboration (CILC) for excellence in videoconferencing programming.
“Being awarded the Pinnacle is a very big deal,” said Rob Schultz, the center’s executive director. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of our education team. The staff has worked tirelessly to create and perform these deeply engaging interactive learning programs for classrooms across the country.”
CILC awards are based exclusively on post-program evaluations from teachers who have used the content in their classrooms or for their own professional advancement. The center was chosen for this highest honor along with 39 other education providers from across the country.
The center began its videoconferencing program called WolfLinkTM in 2006 as a way to reach out to the next generation with multi-disciplinary education centered on wolves. “Kids are really fascinated by wolves,” says Tara Johnson, a K-12 teacher, WolfLink presenter and program specialist at the center. “However, when you add in our ambassador wolves as living, breathing, howling, teaching tools, it doesn’t get more engaging than that.”
Minneapolis elementary school teacher Jacquelyn Ballet notes that the objective of WolfLink videoconferencing was to bring the world of wolves to kids as way to give them opportunities they wouldn’t normally have. “And that is so valuable when we as teachers are so short on time,” says Ballet. “It was super exciting at the end of our program when the kids could hear the wolves at the center actually howling. It was just priceless.”
Johnson believes that WolfLink™ received such high honors because it is comprehensive, involving math, science, art, history, language arts and geography – all core curriculum courses.
While WolfLinkTM has been most heavily used in classrooms across the globe, the customizable programs are also intended for other venues such as nature centers, nursing homes, hospitals and community centers.
“Although we have members in more than 36 countries, most will never get the chance to travel to Ely, Minnesota, to see our ambassador wolves in person. With WolfLinkTM we can bring that experience directly to many of them,” said Schultz.
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