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Carl Wilms
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Carl Wilms 3499 South Bird Sanctuary Road Connersville, IN 47331 7658275109 |
After finishing in Bloomington with a BS in elementary education I took a job in Connersville, IN anticipating that I would teach one year and then move to north central New Mexico where I had fallen in love with the climate. Little did I realize that was not to happen. I landed a position as a caretaker of the Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary which placed me in a piece of heaven in Indiana. Fourteen years later, following the birth of Alex and Casey, we moved to Oxford, OH where life transitioned with a divorce and marriage to Amy. Amy is a Connersville native and circumstances inspired our move back to Connersville. One day we were walking at Mary Gray and we were approached and asked to come to the property as caretakers. Since we would be living in the second house (I had lived in the first house during the previous stint) we decided it would be fantastic. We are now approaching our seventh year on the property. Mary Gray is a 700 acre property owned by the Indiana Audubon Society located in the SW corner of Fayette County. It is mostly wooded with ponds, prairie, and fields in succession. Check it out at indianaaudubon.org. It is open to all during daylight. I also adventured to Indonesia during my MS work in plant ecology in 1986. Experiencing the tropical rainforests while residing at an oil camp on Sumatra made me acutely aware of the U.S. lifestyle and consumptive habits (oil camp with country club atmosphere) amide the poverty of many others who used roadside creeks for washing, toilet, and drinking water. Seeing the forests disappear with slash and burn agriculture and as rafts of massive logs floating downstream made me pause more than once. I returned to a teaching position at Connersville Middle School where I am now preparing for my 31st year of teaching (this is my last year). I also started working on my PhD at Miami University in Educational Leadership in 2005. I hope to wrap that up very soon. I am in my second phase of re-writing about elementary teachers relationships with science. It has become clear to me that too many people on our planet do not respect science when it produces inconvenient truths (Al Gore types) and yet clamor to exploit science when it yields comfort and convenience. I recognize my own hypocrisy regarding this outlook, but I am shocked about the apathetic stance so many people take towards the future our planet and sustainability of the human species on its surface. Amy and I love to travel (producing more than our share of CO2) and pursue birds that decorate our world. Our two dogs (Batman and Robyn) entertain us constantly and help remind us of the importance of subtle love and care for one another. My daughter Casey is wrapping up her studies in health promotion at Miami University and aspires to move to Colorado with her man Nick to sample the exciting stages of independence. My son Alex (Miami ’12) lives with Annie in Chicago while working for Penske Trucking as a management trainee. I am entering a chapter in life where the care for parents is an important role. While mom died three days prior to the demise of the twin towers, dad is experiencing the onset of dementia and related concerns. He lives in Westminster Village in WL and is fortunate to have such fine accommodations. I continue to know that I don’t know much of anything. The wonders of the world abound and in retirement I hope to educate myself about some of what I don’t know. The problem is that this usually results in my learning that there is even more that I don’t know. I like that! It generates wonder and excitement which are fabulous aspects of the human condition. Be well… wishing you the best. Carl |