CAMAS — When Jenni Remillard visits schools on behalf of the Oregon Coast Aquarium, students are typically most excited about the costumes, model skulls and inflatable animals she brings along.
But based purely on volume, Dorothy Fox Elementary School students preferred imitating sea lions on Wednesday, as loud, barking “arf” sounds echoed throughout the school’s cafeteria during a presentation from Remillard, education specialist for the aquarium, based in Newport, Ore.
Remillard said she goes out to parts of Washington and Oregon throughout the year for presentations. This week, she split her time between schools in Camas, Vancouver, Woodland and Kelso.
“The kids love animal science of any kind,” said Dorothy Fox Principal Cathy Sork. “While plenty of kids have been out to the coast, not everybody has the chance to go to the beach. This kind of brings it to the kids.”
Remillard said her presentation is exciting for kids who have visited beaches before.
“Even if you’re going to the coast, you’re not going to get to touch (sea lion and seal furs, bones and model skulls),” she said.
At Dorothy Fox, Remillard and a volunteer from the aquarium led two presentations: one for students in kindergarten through second grade and another for third-through fifth-graders.
“They cater to the younger audience,” Sork said. “They make sure the presentation is developmentally appropriate for a younger audience.”
The main difference on Wednesday was the older group learned about sea otters in addition to a presentation on sea lions and seals. The older group’s presentation also included more in-depth information about the training that aquarium workers do with the animals.
Some of that training was on display at the presentation, when Remillard used a target pole, which looked like a large cotton swab, to show the students how trainers teach animals to move and open their mouths for brushing by feeding them fish. She called up a student to act as a sea lion, and told the group that when the sea lion follows the direction and movement of the pole, the trainer rewards the sea lion with a fish.
“She doesn’t speak English, and I don’t speak sea lion,” Remillard told the group while discussing how they train the animals.
Dress-up time
Bella Bennett, 7, and Joshua Lim, 7, both first-graders, said their favorite part of the presentation was the sea lion and seal costume portion, but they’re a bit biased; they were the two volunteers called up to wear the costumes.
Bella, who dressed as the sea lion, said it was funny to wear the costume. Joshua, who dressed as the seal, said it was comfortable, but he had a hard time acting out the seal’s flopping motion that Remillard showed students during a video portion of the assembly.
Joshua added that he also liked seeing the inflatable animals. Remillard brought two: Stanley, a steller sea lion, and Nigel, an elephant seal. The inflatables are life-size, and Remillard told the students that a sea lion can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and a seal can weigh around 4,000 pounds. Stanley is about 11 feet long and Nigel is even longer, although Remillard wasn’t sure just how long. She said for the aquarium’s whale presentation, she brings along a 29-foot inflatable.
Remillard said one difficult part of the presentation is keeping the children calm, especially once the props are out and fully inflated. For Sork, showing students how to listen and behave is another positive of bringing in presenters such as Remillard.
“Students can learn how to be an audience,” she said. “That’s a life skill that can be learned beyond the classroom, in a setting like this.”
