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So, when you looked around at the folks at your club’s last
meeting
or field trip, did you think they looked a bit grayer or had, perhaps,
a few more wrinkles? And did that make you begin to wonder
about where the young birders are – those young people who
will be the future ‘ace’ birders of the state?
Well, the board of the New York State Ornithological Association
(NYSOA) – the organization that represents 46 New York bird
clubs with a combined membership of more than 20,000 -- has
thought about that, too. NYSOA already has in place the Lillian
Stoner award, a scholarship to attend the NYSOA annual meeting
for young birders over the age of 18, and has discussed different
ideas to encourage and support the development of young birders.
So when Hope Batcheller, a young woman 15 years of
age from Petersburgh, N.Y., came to the NYSOA board asking for
support in forming a New York State Young Birders Club (henceforth
Young Birders Club or NYSYBC), we jumped at the chance to provide
it.
Hope had started an online Yahoo! group
for young New York birders in November 2006, a virtual place
where young birders could meet, talk about birds, post their sightings,
raise identification questions and the like. She also had an
idea to eventually turn this into an organization along the lines
of
the Ohio
Young Birders Club, started in May 2006 and coordinated
by Kim Kaufman of Ohio’s
Black Swamp Bird Observatory (she’s also Kenn Kaufman’s
wife).
As Hope told us, “OYBC is geared for kids 12-18; it offers
field
trips, a newsletter, an annual conference and scholarships for camps
and events, all based on input from
young birders. But I think it would be best to
start small, with a few field trips and a newsletter
by young birders with articles, photographs, artwork
and a list of events of interest.”
Hope brought her ideas to the NYSOA board’s
November meeting, and the board agreed to
sponsor formation of the NYSYBC. NYSOA will
provide the initial financial assistance Hope requested,
publicity, space on the NYSOA website
or server, and adult support. Thus, this article…
Adult support is critical to successful formation of
the Young Birders Club. Governance for the organization
will be provided by the group’s own
youth officers, overseen by an adult coordinator
and the NYSOA board. The advisory structure
for the Youth Birders Club is envisioned to consist
of the adult coordinator, a youth advisory
board and an adult planning committee.
First and foremost, NYSOA/NYSYBC needs a
volunteer for the overall adult coordinator.
With the help of the adult planning committee,
this volunteer will participate with, guide and
oversee the group’s youth advisory board and
officers and members in the planning and implementation
of the group’s operations, including:
trips and events, publications and website and
logistics such as insurance, safety and finances.
The adult coordinator will also report on the
club’s progress to the NYSOA board at its regular
meetings. If you’re a birder who works well
with and respects the ideas of young people and
would be available to attend and willing to drive
for most events, NYSOA would like to hear from
you.
Please contact our president, Bill Ostrander,
or
any other NYSOA board member if you’re interested.
Hope’s vision is a great idea and worthy of a lot
of support from NYSOA...it may be as important
to birding in New York State as habitat conservation
and species preservation. Please join the
board in bringing her vision to reality. |
