CONSERVATION POLICE VISIT SHAWNEE SCHOOL

MCCLURE, Ill. -- Students at Shawnee South Elementary School got to walk and talk with the animals during a visit by conservation police officers Wednesday.

The students had a chance to see animals and animal hides up close when officers from the Illinois Department of Conservation visited the school in the Conservation Police Lodge. The lodge is a trailer containing educational literature and a variety of wild animal hides and stuffed animals.

The lodge makes few trips to schools because it is the only one owned by the state and also is used by officers in the field.

All 135 students at the school were allowed to touch and hold the hides while officers Larry Griffith and Keith Clendenin told them about the importance of protecting the state's natural resources. Afterwards, students toured the lodge and viewed other items on display.

The purpose of the visit was to give students a chance to see animals they usually only read about in books and to teach them to appreciate the animals as natural resources.

"We take this trailer all over the state to as many schools as we can to teach kids to appreciate natural resources," said Griffith. "Part of the job is to talk to as many kids as possible, and part of our job is to catch guys who poach animals or do other things they're not supposed to."

Teachers said although most of the students live in rural areas or on farms, many of them still don't have easy access to wild animals. It is important the children appreciate the animals, because it makes them less likely to poach or abuse them, said kindergarten teacher Mary Ann Nelson.

"I believe it will keep the kids from poaching," she said. Now they know what the animals look like and how they live. "It's good for them to get this kind of experience."

Clendenin said more than one child has told him of a family member who went hunting or brought home some type of animal out of season. Students remember what they learn from the officers and take that knowledge home to their parents, he said.

Anthony Crane, 6, said he planned to tell his parents all about his day with the animals. He said the conservation officers had taught him one major piece of knowledge about hunting deer and other animals.

Said Crane: "It's only good sometimes."