As many of you know, I have a special relationship with the Miss Buzzas and their first graders at St. Michael School, in Worthington, Ohio, where my four children are students. A year ago, Erin and Elise Buzza (yes, they're twins!) learned that I am a birder and work in the birding world, and they invited me to come speak to their classes.

Well, a lot has happened since then – for one, the Miss Buzzas both fell ALL IN to birding, and I have been blown away by the number of professional development programs and their own personal time they have invested in creating a bird-centered curriculum for their classrooms. They invited me to be a bigger part of that curriculum, and I have been visiting their classes every month this school year, reading birdy books to the students, listening to their observations (they are the best little "noticers" and have so much to share!), and of course taking them outside birding to see what we can see.

This is where you come in: The students have been using toy binoculars, which really are not much better than looking through cardboard tubes. I am fortunate to have a relationship with Vortex Optics, which this past year released its Bantam Youth Binocular, which is PERFECT for small hands and faces. (I reviewed the product in the Nov/Dec issue of BWD, based on the happy feedback of my children who test-drove and loved the bins!) Vortex has generously offered 32 pairs of the Bantams at a deeply discounted rate for the Miss Buzzas' classrooms. I thought it would be meaningful and fun to create a fundraiser that my friends, and especially my birder friends, could contribute to and show the Miss Buzzas and their students how generous and welcoming the birding community is.

These current and future first-grade students will get to experience our monthly birding field trips on a new level with these binoculars, and surely we have some lifelong birders in the making! Working with the Miss Buzzas and their students has brought me so much joy, and I would love your help in providing them with a tool to continue their important work for years to come! Donations of all sizes are welcome and appreciated – thank you in advance for your support!