• REVIEW: Watershed of hope & renewal: “A Simple Question” >> October 21, 2009 — International Bird Rescue Research Center
• “‘A Simple Question’ portrays a hope grounded in the ability of the natural world to re-grow itself when people–in this instance, school children–make it the object of their care and attention. My hope is that this film will inspire more educators across the U.S. and world to take similar actions within their own watersheds.” — Greg Smith, Ed.D., Professor of Teacher Education, Lewis and Clark College
• “This film is a remarkable, analytical chronicle of a hands-on, local environmental education project that involves the most important components of education: dedicated teachers, motivated students and a supportive community. With beauty and rigor, “A Simple Question” captures the magic and the potential of a small learning community bent on changing the world, stream by stream, tree by tree and classroom by classroom. A must-see for educators”. — Pablo Jasis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Elementary and Bilingual Education, California State University, Fullerton
• “The STRAW movie is the most compelling example that I’ve seen of students being productively involved in ecological restoration. I use the film as an integral part of presentations I do now to engage students in hopeful environmentalism. The STRAW program engages students in hands-on, academically rich work in their local ecosystems that plants seeds of hope in their souls. This is so much better than saturating children with fears of global warming and faraway problems they can’t do anything about. As many times as I’ve seen it, I never fail to tear up when I watch it because it always reminds me that this is the real work.” — Dr. David Sobel, Director, Teacher Certification Programs, Education Department, Antioch New England Graduate School
• ”My name is Megan Marsh. I was in your 4th grade class when we started the shrimp club. I don’t know what it was that made me think of the shrimp club tonight, as it has been on my mind several times over the years, but my memories of 4th grade are the fondest that I can recall. It was the first year I moved to Marin, and it influenced me more than I can explain. Tonight I went on YouTube and saw a more up-to-date clip about the shrimp club.
I have diary entries from your class. Wanting to be a marine biologist, I remember writing furiously to express how excited I was about all you taught. Over the years, I have strayed from my passions, but I am working to get back to that place — the excitement and thrill that I had in 4th grade in your classroom. I’ve worked non-profit since college, but mostly in social services. I have always wanted to get back to working with relevant environmental issues. I recently moved to Portland hoping to go back to school and pursue my interests.
Thank you so much for teaching me more than a college degree and 4 years of “real world” work experience could have taught me. I will carry memories from your class always, and they continuously influence me. I hope that as I enter graduate school, I can experience that same thrill and excitement I had when I was 10. Shy as I was, timid as ever, your class has stuck with me more than any other over the years.
I wish you and your projects the best. Please know that you are a continual influence for me and many others. I am sure”. –Megan Marsh