STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

They’re kindergarteners, but they can tell you what “nocturnal” means.

The 20 youngsters who meet for Far + Wise afterschool classes in a trailer outside Hailey Elementary School are among about 200 youngsters involved in Far + Wise this year.

This is the first time the nonprofit organization has had a kindergarten cohort. And, like the first- through fifth-graders in the program, they’re learning math, reading and socio-emotional skills through art projects, board games, play, field trips and experiential learning.

Teachers Brenda Torres and Ashley Olson wear matching sweatshirts as they prepare to take the kids on a field trip to see beaver ponds.

“Every year we adopt something new and this year it’s kindergarten,” said Laura Rose-Lewis, executive director of Far + Wise. “These kids come from Alturas and Hailey schools and many are non-English speaking so we’re growing it slowly. Next year we’ll add a new kindergarten.”

The kids meet from 2:45 to 5 p.m. every day after school.

On this particular day, they were learning about nocturnal animals.

The study is part of an initiative started last year to tackle a new theme each month. September’s was “All About Me,” in which students learned about themselves and one another. It was followed by “Nocturnal Animals,” in which they were invited to learn about creatures of the night.

A student listens as the teachers explain the day’s activities.

“Anybody know anything about beavers?” teacher Ashley Olson, a Blaine County School District substitute, asked the young’uns.

Beavers, she told them, are semi-aquatic rodents known for building dams and lodges out of sticks, mud and stones. Their homes, accessible underwater to keep predators out, have several chambers where they sleep and care for their young. They eat with sharp, chisel-like teeth that grow continuously.

“They’re the biggest rodents in the world, and they have orange teeth because the minerals that they chew on have iron,” she added.

“Are they nocturnal?” asked Brenda Torres, who teaches alongside Olson.

Brenda Torres engages a youngster as students file in from their regular classrooms.

“Yes!” responded the children, acknowledging that the rodents do most of their work after dark.

The tail, Olson said, are used for steering while swimming. And they slap them to communicate. They have webbed feet to swim and they store food underwater for winter.

They’re important for the world in that they create wetlands that help filter water, provide habitat for other animals like fish, birds and insects, she told the kids, who are quietly noisy but still attentive.

“What other nocturnal animals are there?” Torres asked, leaning into an exploration of bats, owls and racoons.

Students show off the fire hats they received earlier in the day.

Owls can fly silently, thanks to feathers that are specially designed to allow them to sneak up on their prey without being heard, the kids learned. They have large eyes that help them see in the dark, but those eyes are so big that they can’t move them around so they have to turn their heads to look in different directions. And one ear is higher than the other, helping them to pinpoint a mouse in the grass.

As for bats, there are 1,400 different types, ranging from a bumblebee bat with a body the size of a jelly beat to the flying fox bat with a wingspan of five feet.

Over the next coming days, the kindergarteners would draw spiders and spider webs.

Even their first field trip of the year to see beaver ponds in Big Wood River near Bellevue in partnership with Idaho BaseCamp came with learning curve.

“Everyone needs to be buckled in when you’re in the van, and stay on your bums the whole time,” Caitlin Olson, director of Education and impact for Far + Wise told them. “And no screaming. We don’t want to make the drivers nervous.”

Rose-Lewis said the children will learn about “Thanksgiving and Food Production” in conjunction with the upcoming holiday, and they will explore “Life in the Artic” in December.

Along with literacy and math, they learn socio-emotional skills. Every day they sit in a circle around their teachers, passing around a little grey horse. Each child gets a chance to share something while holding the horse. Sometimes, they’re encouraged to praise fellow classmates.

Classroom rules posted on the wall remind them to: Prepare to learn. Be positive. Always do your best. Believe in yourself. Be respectful. Ask questions. Be honest. Work hard and have fun. Always be kind.

“The way they learn is by playing so we do a lot of that while learning the alphabet and numbers,” said Olson.

“We also focusing on building relationships with them,” said Torres. “We love giving hugs so they know they can come to you at any time.”