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Spring is here! This time of year reminds me why we have a frog for our logo. A small but regionally important salmon stream runs through our property. Yes, it's Barker Creek. When Judy Richardson, our long-time creative director, visited to help design our logo over 15 years ago, my children couldn't wait to show her the bowl of tadpoles they had been nurturing on our counter. They had collected the frog eggs from a pond near the creek, cheered as the eggs hatched into tadpoles and then watched wide-eyed as the tadpoles morphed into frogs. This rite of spring truly is a magical thing to behold.
Our little frogs are Pacific chorus frogs -- proclaimed the state of Washington's official amphibian by our governor last year thanks to a teacher who helped her students turn a class project into a state law. Here's what the Seattle Times had to say in an article published on May 1, 2007:
"Gov. Chris Gregoire, wearing a toy frog on her forefinger, signed the bill Monday, bantering with the Boston Harbor Elementary School third graders who brought the legislation forward as a class project."
" 'There, you got a bill passed and that's a really, really big deal,' the governor told the Olympia youngsters. 'You made a law today.' "
"Gregoire told Keitlyn Watson's class they had managed to combine persuasive writing, the legislative process and citizen advocacy while learning a lot about biology, art, research, social studies and writing. She urged them to remember the moment and keep up a lifelong love of civics."
Hats off to this enterprising teacher and her dedicated class. I think of you every evening when our little frogs strike up their chorus. They are so loud these spring evenings that, when I'm talking to my own children (now away at college) on the phone, they can hear them singing in the background.
In honor of our singing state frogs, our March E-Newletter will include a lesson from our award-winning Draw-Write-Now series on, you guessed it, how to draw a frog. If you haven't already done so, be sure to sign up for our free E-Newsletter. Every month, we'll send you free lessons, teaching tips and classroom decorating ideas from the creative team at Barker Creek Publishing.
Happy April!
- Carolyn Hurst
CEO and mom
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