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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}DSC_1331.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 167px; float: right;" />The winter internship is in full swing as we enter our second week of teaching. The snow is falling as it should, the school buses are arriving on time, and we are almost figuring out how to put 12 pairs of snowshoes on wiggly children before freezing our fingers off, a feat that would seem less manageable if it were not for our three amazing environmental education interns.</p>
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	Jacob Boone is doing double duty this winter helping Bob with grounds work while also joining the teaching staff as an education intern.&nbsp; Jake first came to Au Sable the summer of 2011 as undergraduate from Spring Arbor University where helped with our ongoing research studying macroinvertebrates on the Boardman River.&nbsp; Jake has a personality that invites conversation and in case you were wondering, he can tell you the scientific name of nearly everything at Au Sable.&nbsp; As a side note, he is frequently found singing along to Taylor Swift while wearing a hat of a stuffed animal cougar, so naturally the children love him.</p>
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	Valerie Metzler is becoming a seasoned outdoor educator.&nbsp; She joined our teaching staff this winter to gain a little more experience with environmental education before continuing her work as an OE instructor with South Mountain YMCA in New Jersey.&nbsp; Valerie brings a quiet confidence to our teaching staff and it seems she is ready for any challenge.&nbsp; She applied to the internship after hearing about Au Sable from her brother who attended years earlier (Michael Metzler - India, Florida, Pacific Rim, Great Lakes Campus 2000, 2001).&nbsp; Val holds a degree in Biology from Eastern Mennonite University and is currently in the lead for most attempts by children at instructor handholding.</p>
