WOODLAND — Sandi George was at a Ptarmigan Mountaineering Club meeting 30-plus years ago when John L. Ford gave a presentation on whales.
George, a teacher at Woodland Primary School, asked Ford if he would come talk to her students. Ford agreed, and he’s continued to visit Woodland each year. He was back at the school Wednesday for the 30th year of his whale program, which ballooned from one afternoon to a three-day event more than 10 years ago.
“I remember that first time I saw him speak, he seemed really nervous, but he’s great with the kids,” George said. “He’s a natural teacher. When I saw him, he had these amazing pictures of whales because he was a photographer and he took pictures to help identify different kinds of whales. He also had one of those diving helmets that wraps around the head with the glass in front. I thought he’d be a great person to speak to the kids.”
To honor his 30th visit, students and teachers surprised Ford, 55, with a mural painted in one of the school’s hallways. The mural features a large whale, a boat and a superhero-like cartoon version of Ford, complete with a green cape and a logo on his shirt of a whale’s tail and “WG” for “whale guy,” his nickname at the school. He was also given the actual shirt, with a cape attached, at an assembly Wednesday morning. He found out about the mural during the assembly, when a video played showing students working on it and thanking him for all his years of coming to the school.
“It’s very humbling and overwhelming,” Ford said. “The fact that all the students, not just first-graders, worked on the mural means a lot to me.”
Ford says he keeps visiting Woodland partly because he enjoys seeing the students get excited about whales, and partly because the school keeps asking. He used to present similar programs at schools all over Washington and Oregon, but with a lot of districts facing budget cuts, Woodland is the only school where he still has a presence.
Ford lives in Waldport, Ore., a coastal city three-plus hours south of Woodland. There, Ford manages a market and works as a guide with Coastal Journeys Unlimited. He also works with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network. Previously, the Camas native worked at The Columbian from 1979 until 2000.
As part of the program, Ford brings along a lot of visual aids for the students. During a presentation on Wednesday, he showed students different skulls and a baby whale’s rib, which was taller than each first-grader in the class and took multiple students to hold up over their heads.
“It’s not like when you go to a museum and all this stuff is behind glass so you can’t touch it,” he told a class while inviting them up to feel all the different bones he brought in.
This year, Ford also brought Mike, a life-size inflatable killer whale, which lurked in the gym during Ford’s presentations.
“He always talks to kids about different things, like beach safety and taking care of the planet and whales, of course,” George said. “He lets the kids get involved. It teaches them about the community and about things that aren’t always in their textbooks.”
Adam Littman: 360-735-4530; adam.littman@columbian.com; twitter.com/col_hoods
