Bird Board
MAST Birding with Sandy Komito
Last Monday at The MAST Academy, my 9th grade English class, two colleagues, including Brian, and I birded Virginia Key Park with the North American Big Year record-holder, Sandy Komito. Mr. Komito was a subject of both the book and the movie, “The Big Year”, the latter of which included actors Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. My 9th graders read and saw both works. After the nature walk, we enjoyed a Q&A with Mr. Komito, who observed 748 species of birds in North America over a calendar year. The MAST Parent-Teacher-Student Association donated a MAST shirt for Komito at the request of my students to replace "Mr. Pants", his favorite pair of purple, polyester bellbottoms he left flying on a flagpole in Alaska during the record-breaking year.
Comments
Thank you for exposing your class to "The Big Year". It really was an entertaining movie that did not receive its due at the box office. People who saw it in the after-market (on planes, etc.) have told me how much they enjoyed it. It was followed by two other "birder" movies, neither as good and neither successful. Hopefully in a few years we will get another chance to impress the public.
Thanks for the words of encouragement, Steve, and, Cheryl, Mr. Komito was true to form at MAST. It was fun to watch his rapport with the kids. I forgot to mention that MAST administrators Josephine Otero and Dr. Michael Gould, administrators at MAST, and Guy Forchion from Virginia Key Beach Park were critical in getting this together.
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