Green Team Gazette: Happy 80th Bday Jane Goodall!!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Happy 80th Bday Jane Goodall!!

Sometimes it's a matter of being at the right place at the right time.

Time: Spring 2008 (April 4th, to be exact, a day after "her" 74th bday)

Situation: My first year at Gibson Island Country School (Now Eagle Cove School thanks to a name change 3-4 years ago. Irony: this is my LAST year at Eagle Cove School due to a January board decision to close us down due to low ##'s. As an aside: still quite saddened by this!!)

Event: An Über-special Roots & Shoots Fair at MY school, with schools area-wide sending teacher and student representatives. How lucky am I to land HERE?! I know if I shut my eyes, I can see her right there, nearly close enough to touch, while she speaks on her experiences with the chimpanzees in Africa. I think, if I shut my eyes, I can still hear her "hoot-hoo-hoo" in a volume-expansive chimpanzee call!!! To hear a semblance of it, click here and see it at 4 minutes and 26 seconds in. It stays with you!!

So Jane Goodall, noted primatologist, is turning 80 this Thursday, April 3rd. As someone who has studied chimpanzees, their habitat and environment, and been a beacon of conservationism for 50+ years, she's truly a remarkable woman. She deserves 80,000 birthday wishes this 80th birthday!!!

Happy birthday, Ms. Goodall! Thanks for all you have done and continue to do.

To learn more about the amazing icon we call Jane Goodall, check out some of these sites: