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lockportlegend.com life & arts
the Lockport Legend | April 26, 2018 | 19
Students learn about rainforest conservation at show
Mary Compton
Freelance Reporter
Instead of lions, tigers and
bears, there was a lemur, a
toucan and a boa constrictor
the night of April 17 at
Walsh School.
Mike Kohlrieser, founder
and director of Understanding
Wildlife, guided D92
students and their parents
through a rainforest experience.
“The kids are at the perfect
age to teach them
about saving the rainforest,”
Kohlrieser said. “They
are impressionable, they
will go home and lean on
mom and dad to recycle.
Something [as] simple as
recycling aluminum cans,
which have bauxite, which
is mined from the tropical
rainforest [can have an impact].
As I’m holding this
beautiful bird in my hand, I
can tell the kids when you
recycle aluminum cans, you
are helping animals just like
this.
“Now, they have a reason
to recycle.”
Kohlrieser has been putting
shows on like this for
26 years.
“We learned about the
problems in the 1980s that
the animals in the rainforest
were having,” he said. “We
acquired a few animals and
started going to schools.
Within three years, we were
going coast to coast. We
have a waiting list in every
state that we go to.”
During the show, Kohlrieser
told a blue and
gold macaw to take a $1 bill
from a woman in the audience.
“This is not the first time
I’ve had a bird land on me,”
Lockport resident Jayme
Sala said. “Growing up in
Lockport, we had a bunch
of birds in the house. The
maximum was 25 birds at a
time, from Senegals to the
blue and golds. I’ve had a
lot of experience with blue
and gold macaws. We had
one that would go out and
mow the lawn with my
dad.”
As the show continued,
Kohlrieser made sure to put
an emphasis on saving the
Earth.
“I don’t think we know
how bad it’s going to be,”
Kohlrieser said. “The rainforest
has been described as
the lungs of the Earth. The
whole breathing, the whole
oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange,
that’s important
stuff. It’s not like you can
replant the rainforest in 10
or 20 years. We are going to
suffer if we lose our rainforest.”
According to Rainforest
Relief, tropical forest areas
are among the most threatened
areas.
“It was an important message
that talks about the effects
on the animals if we
don’t recycle,” Reed School
Principal Cathy Slee said.
“It’s important to teach the
students little things like recycling
that paper or lunch
bag and reusing plastic
containers. Our oceans are
becoming polluted with
so much plastic. We try
and do teachable moments
throughout the year for the
kids.”
Walsh School Principal
Teresa Martin echoed Slee’s
statements.
“I really believe that we
start that process,” Martin
said. “It begins at home,
and we also teach them
here. The focus of today’s
assembly was the education
part; tonight was the
entertainment. This is lifelong
for them. The Earth is
changing, and if they’re not
being part of the solution, it
will be trouble for all of us.”
ABOVE: An exotic
bird flies to Jayme
Sala April 17
during the “The
Rainforest, Live on
Stage” show held
at Walsh School in
Lockport. Photos by
Mary Compton/22nd
Century Media
LEFT: Sisters Sophia
(left) and Giana
Turek pet a caiman
as Mike Kohlrieser,
founder and director
of “The Rainforest,
Live on Stage” show,
holds it. The show
featured a number of
creatures.