Fourth-grade gifted-and-talented teacher Georgene Fromm discovered an unconventional way to teach her Clearview Elementary School students' general curriculum.
The method?
A rehabilitated harbor seal named Kitty.
"Kitty is really good to follow because we're learning how to [use a tracking system]," said fourth-grader Jessica Wharton. "She's really good for science and math and I really like tracking Kitty."
Although she did not plan to use a harbor seal to teach her class, Fromm said it has made her last year before retirement a lot more fun.
"The kids have a high interest and they get to use the Internet in a good way and they get to look at geography and the northeastern states," she said, about the whale tracking Web site that shows Kitty's movements. "They're using their conversion tables from kilometers to miles and they are applying what they have learned through their studies up to fourth grade."
Fromm said learning about Kitty — named after Kitty Hawk, N.C., where she was stranded — has not only piqued the interest of her class but the entire school.
"The kids have given two presentations to the school on WBZZ — the school's news show — for all to see 'Where in the World is Kitty?'" she said, adding her class posts Kitty's new location for the school when it is updated online.
AN UNKNOWN education tool at first, Kitty was introduced to Fromm by retired Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) teacher Marian Childress.
Childress, who last taught fifth grade at Clearview, said she and her husband — also a retired FCPS teacher — moved to Virginia Beach after 30 years of teaching and began working at the Virginia Marine Science Museum Stranding Center.
While Fromm was visiting the couple over the December break, Childress informed Fromm of Kitty's rehabilitation and the center's attempt to use a tracking device to learn more about harbor seals' travel patterns.
Fromm was also invited to Kitty's release Dec. 29.
"This is the first seal we've taken to the beach to release," said Childress. "It is not normal to have seals in our waters."
Childress explained Kitty was the first harbor seal in the aquarium's history to be triaged and rehabilitated by the stranding team and then released in local waters — traditionally harbor seals were stabilized at the center and transferred north to be rehabilitated.
"They need to have cold water," she said about why harbor seals are released up north. "Often the [seals] we get are young, maybe 3 months, 5 months or 8 months old."
Kitty was discovered stranded in Kitty Hawk, N.C., on Nov. 4, malnourished, suffering from a swollen left shoulder, dehydration, a high fever, pneumonia and had bloody flippers.
Although they primarily help mammals and sea turtles, Childress said thanks to a recent grant from the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program, the stranding center was able to build a single seal rehabilitation unit.
After safely capturing Kitty, Childress said they slowly rehabilitated her, helping her gain 30 pounds through first an IV-type tube, then fish milkshakes and finally solid fish.
Once rehabilitated, Childress said the crew prepared to release Kitty — first attaching a tracking device.
"This gives scientists from all over the world, for the first time, the idea of what their patterns are," she said, adding after about 10 weeks the batteries will die and around three months the tracking device will "shed" with Kitty's fur.
"Until satellite tracking we didn't know where these seals were going or what their pattern was," she said.
SINCE HER Dec. 29 release, Fromm's class has tracked Kitty as having traveled 689 miles, or 1,111 kilometers, as of Jan. 28.
"My favorite part about tracking Kitty is finding out the amount of miles she swam and how far she went," said Brian Kucik.
Classmate Robby Powers said based on Kitty's trek from Virginia waters north to the Rhode Island area he has learned that "although [harbor seals] don't travel much, they're really fast."
"I have learned harbor seals can be unpredictable in where they go," said Andrew Newman, after seeing that Kitty has not stayed in one area since her release.
Fromm said since they started tracking Kitty the students — about half who have seen a seal in the wild — researched harbor seals on their own time.
"I learned that they don't migrate, they return to their birth place," said Katie Lang.
When the group looked at Kitty's location Jan. 28, many were surprised to see, after staying close to shore, she had gone further out to sea.
"I think she might be home now, so now she's just hanging out and catching fish," said Powers.
Abigail Ackerman had a different theory, suggesting she was "a: being chased; b: fishing; or c: she has found other harbor seals" and is playing with them — Fromm reminded Ackerman based on their research harbor seals do not travel in numbers.
"I think it's a great thing," said Childress about Fromm's teaching tactics. "The more people you can get involved at any early age, especially with the environment, I think it's wonderful."
She added it's refreshing to see Fromm use Kitty as an educational tool in a learning environment driven by Standards of Learning requirements where teachers "sometimes lose sight" of the fun at school.
"They'd all love to go to Virginia Beach, and I'd love to take them there," joked Fromm about her class. "Of course I can't, but this is the stuff that kids love — it's been for the kids."