Bring Junior Duck Stamp into Your Classroom
Getting Started with Jim Baumgartner, Chico Junior High

I have been the art teacher at Chico Junior High for the last twelve years.  Little did I know when I first started teaching in 1971, that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Junior Duck Stamp Competition would become the most exciting and educational event of my teaching career.

When Cookie Dellivon, the departing art teacher, told me about the Duck Stamp Competition, I thought “What is so big about rubber duck stamps!?!” Well, my education just got started in a big way.  My first attempt at the competition was a daunting task.  I didn’t even know what the program was all about. The second year, with a lot of great help from Marilyn Gamette of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and our science teachers, I was much better informed and prepared. 

One of the main reasons I’m so excited each year to be involved is to see the growth of my students.  Their powers of observation and small motor skills are drastically improved after studying and practicing the colors and feather patterns of their favorite birds.  My students research on the internet, in magazines, and books.  Some parents are even taking their children on trips to local duck ponds. 

This amazing program not only provides a vehicle for our students to display their art skills, it involves ourschool and the whole community.  At Back-to School Night this year every group of parents wanted to know when the students would be participating in the competition.

The art club raises money to purchase special pencils for the project.  They have become so involved, that I have been opening my classroom at 7:30 am and at lunch for all students in our school to participate.

The students also learn that so many different groups of people are working to ensure conservation of the delicate wetlands.  This includes farmers, hunters, and city, county, state, and national organizations.

 After twelve years of involvement, I’m finding that a lot of my students are now arriving with first-hand knowledge of the waterfowl in our western flyway.  Many of the students have been exposed through family trips to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, hunting trips, and fishing on the Sacramento River.  I am hoping to get parents to visit the recently opened Pine Creek Project Reserve, just miles west of Chico. 

I know words like pride and accomplishment may seem “old fashioned”, but when I observe students bringing friends and family to see their drawings I know we’re doing something great. 

There are many wonderful sources available to get started in this program.  Web sites like www.caljrduckstamp.org provide curriculum, packets, and visual aids.  Students like to use google images.com.  We collect magazines from hunters and parents.  In addition, staff at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and the California Waterfowl Association are ready and willling to help.

I enthusiastically encourage all teachers, troop leaders, and parents to join this fantastic, enriching journeythat promotes the important message of conservation and environmental awareness to our students and communities. 

It’s everyone’s responsibility to keep in mind the true goal of the Junior Duck Stamp Competition, the education and the fact that the rewards for all participants, including the ducks, far exceeds any awards received.

James Baumgartner
Art Teacher
Chico Junior High

Gallery of Artists:

Kyle Keane	Katie Cinquini and Claudia Godinez	Mali Jones and Lauren Mullins
Sarah Haselton	Lauren Mullins and Mali Jones	Izzy McArthur, Sarah Haselton, Laurn Mullins, and Mali Jones
Cassidy Wear, Katie Cinquini, and Claudia Godinez