Kazoo School

10/12/2026

🍬 A Sweet Start to a WILD Day of Learning! 🌳🔬

While our Kazoo School students enjoyed a day off on Friday, October 9, our teachers and staff were back in the classroom—and outdoors—for another exciting Professional Development Day!

We were delighted to welcome Natalie from Project WILD back to Kazoo School for another visit! Following her workshop during our August professional development week, Natalie returned to help our educators discover even more creative ways to take learning outside.

And what better way to begin than with a little candy?

Our morning kicked off with a hands-on lesson in taxonomy—the science of classifying living organisms. But instead of starting with plants or animals, our staff members were challenged to classify different kinds of candy!

Using observation, classification guides, and dichotomous keys, teachers worked together to sort their sweet specimens based on shared characteristics. It was a fun and delicious way to explore the same scientific thinking students use when identifying plants, animals, and other organisms in nature.

What is Project WILD?

Project WILD is a nationally recognized environmental education program dedicated to helping educators teach wildlife conservation, environmental stewardship, and responsible care for our natural resources. Its hands-on, interdisciplinary curriculum encourages curiosity, scientific investigation, and a deeper understanding of the connections between wildlife, habitats, and people. Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies

At Kazoo School, professional development is about continuing to grow as educators and finding new ways to inspire our students. Our partnership with Project WILD fits beautifully with our progressive, outdoor-centered philosophy, where the natural world becomes an extension of the classroom.
A huge thank you to Natalie and Project WILD for another wonderful opportunity to learn, collaborate, experiment, and have fun!
And who says professional development can't be sweet?

10/12/2026

🗳️ Kalamazoo Satellite Clerk’s Office Opens October 12

As we continue sharing important information ahead of the November 3 election, Kalamazoo voters will soon have another convenient location for election services.

Beginning Monday, October 12, the City Clerk’s Office will offer election services at a temporary satellite location:

WMU Fetzer Center
2251 Business Ct.
Monday–Friday | 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

At the satellite office, voters can register to vote, request or return an absentee ballot, and receive assistance with other voting services. Michigan also allows eligible residents to register in person at a clerk or satellite office within 14 days of an election, with proof of residency.

Why does Kazoo School share voting information? Our mission includes preparing children to become engaged citizens. Civic education begins with understanding how our communities work and knowing how citizens can participate. Sharing nonpartisan election information is one way we can help our community stay informed.

For registration status, polling locations, absentee ballot information, and other official election resources, visit Michigan.gov/Vote. The City of Kalamazoo Clerk’s Office can also be reached by calling 311 or (269) 337-8000.

10/12/2026

Honoring Indigenous Peoples Day 🌎🍂

On Monday, October 12, Kazoo School recognizes Indigenous Peoples Day—a day to honor the histories, cultures, resilience, and continuing contributions of Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous Peoples Day also asks us to learn more deeply about the history of the land on which we live, learn, and play. Here in Kalamazoo, we gather on the ancestral lands of the Council of the Three Fires—the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. Their relationship with this land is not simply part of the past; Indigenous peoples and sovereign Tribal Nations remain an important and vibrant part of Michigan today.

At Kazoo School, this day connects deeply with who we are. As an outdoor-centered school, we teach children to develop a meaningful relationship with the natural world—to observe it, learn from it, care for it, and understand our responsibilities to one another and to the places we share.

As a progressive school, we also believe education should encourage children to ask questions, seek out perspectives that have too often been overlooked, and learn history with honesty and curiosity. Indigenous Peoples Day gives us an opportunity to celebrate Indigenous cultures and contributions while also recognizing histories of displacement and injustice. In Kalamazoo, that history is especially close to home: Potawatomi people lived here long before European settlement, and descendants of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band remain in Southwest Michigan today as the sovereign Gun Lake Tribe.

Most importantly, this is a day for learning, listening, respect, and gratitude—values we hope our students carry with them far beyond our campus.

Today and throughout the year, we honor the Indigenous peoples who have cared for these lands for generations and who continue to enrich our community, our state, and our world.

10/11/2026

10/11/2026

✈️ Outdoor Education Takes Flight!

Our Upper Elementary Outdoor Education class has officially taken off with a new unit on paper airplanes—and it has been a HUGE hit!

This week, students moved beyond simply folding and flying. They began measuring how far their airplanes traveled and how long they stayed aloft, turning a classic childhood activity into a hands-on exploration of design, measurement, experimentation, and problem-solving.

Of course, the best part of an experiment is asking, “What should we try next?” The students had such a great time that they’re already eager to add new challenges, modify their designs, test new ideas, and see if they can improve their results.

This is Outdoor Education at Kazoo: move, create, experiment, measure, adjust, try again—and have a whole lot of fun while learning!

Stay tuned…the challenges are just beginning!

10/11/2026

🌿🐟 Learning, Laughing & Getting a Little WILD!

Our Professional Development Day with Project WILD didn’t stop with taxonomy and candy! As the day continued, Kazoo School teachers and staff traded traditional professional development for the kind of hands-on, experiential learning we love to give our students.

Through a series of interactive activities, our educators explored some big environmental concepts in creative ways. They examined how city development can affect wildlife and natural habitats, designed different kinds of fish adapted to different environmental conditions, and explored migration patterns and the challenges animals encounter as they travel from one habitat to another.

There was plenty of movement, collaboration, problem-solving, creativity—and laughter along the way!

Experiences like these are especially valuable at Kazoo School because our teachers aren't simply learning about outdoor education; they're experiencing activities they can adapt and bring directly to their students. With the Kleinstuck Preserve and our outdoor campus just steps from our classrooms, lessons about habitats, adaptation, migration, conservation, and human impact can move from an activity to a real-world investigation.

And just like we tell our students, teachers are lifelong learners, too!

Thank you again to Natalie and Project WILD for spending the day learning, exploring, creating, and thinking alongside us. We can't wait to see where these new ideas take our students next!

10/11/2026

Our annual Owl Prowl is Thursday Oct 22, 2026.
🦉 Register for this event before it fills up!
Registration link: https://buff.ly/qF9lZLR

10/11/2026

Mark your calendars!

10/11/2026

🎨🌆 Kazoo Kids Take Their Adventures to the Streets!

Who says an adventure has to take you far from home? Sometimes, the most colorful discoveries are right in your own backyard!

With the recent reissue of our Wild Explorers Community Adventures Passport, some of our Kazoo School students wasted no time getting out and exploring! Their destination? The incredible murals scattered throughout Kalamazoo!
And what a colorful adventure they discovered!

Kalamazoo has a wonderful history of public art. According to the Kalamazoo Public Library's history of public murals, our city has been home to dozens of murals since the 1970s. In fact, Kalamazoo held a citywide mural competition in 1974, helping establish a tradition of transforming ordinary walls and buildings into extraordinary works of art. Today, murals throughout the city celebrate creativity, history, culture, and the many voices that make Kalamazoo special.

Some murals are easy to spot, while others are tucked away, waiting for curious explorers to discover them. It's like a giant outdoor art gallery—and admission is free!

Our Wild Explorers Passport Program encourages students and families to put down their screens, get outside, explore their community, and discover the remarkable opportunities waiting all around them.

Whether it's discovering a new mural, visiting a local museum, exploring a greenhouse, trying a new playground, or going letterboxing, every adventure offers an opportunity to learn something new.

These experiences support Kazoo School's mission of developing confident critical thinkers, lifelong learners, and engaged citizens. They encourage children to ask questions, appreciate different perspectives, connect with their community, and recognize that learning can happen anywhere.

So grab your Community Adventures Passport, gather your family, and head out to discover something wonderful! Who knows what colorful surprises are waiting around the next corner?