Dear KEY 4 Principals and Teachers,

We are proud and excited that your 4th graders will be visiting us to participate in the KEY Project program Scientists of the Lower Pecos at the Shumla campus. It is important that your buses arrive at Shumla by 9:30 am.

The worksheets (both in English and Spanish)—mentioned in the timeline below—can be found in the training manuals received at the teacher training session on September 18th.

Below are links to your "online packet" which contains the following:

• A cover letter
• A general release form (both in English and Spanish) and a photo release form (both in English and Spanish) to be copied and filled out by every child's parents (to be picked up by Shumla at the beginning of the week of the program).
• A station guide sheet to help the teachers in their roles as clan leaders and a schedule of the stations and times each clan will visit the stations.
• A map to Shumla.

We ask that students be divided into five (5) "clans" (Deer, Panther, Wolf, Ringtail and Bear) before arriving at Shumla. Each clan should be assigned a teacher from your school—to be the clan leader when possible—plus one chaperone per clan. One week before your program, Shumla will bring the clan buttons to your school. We would like to pick up student release forms at that time.

If you do not have the release forms ready by that date, have the release forms ready to hand to me at Shumla when you arrive and be able to let me know if any students can not have their pictures on our Web site. It would be best if the teachers distribute the clan buttons to the students en route to Shumla. The teachers can use their station guide sheets to help lead their clans through the stations. To create our certificates I will need to receive the names of the children attending one week before you arrive at Shumla.

The clans will rotate through five (5) stations during the day. They will go to the first station directly from the bus. It is important for the students to bring their lunches with them in their backpacks when they get off the bus because they will eat their lunch at their station. We also ask that any electronic devices (cell phones, MP3 players, etc.) be turned off and stored in the students' backpacks throughout the day. Cameras and photo taking are welcome.

If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact me at 432-292-4848 (phone), 432-292-4849 (fax) or by E-mail.

We look forward to seeing your students!
Missy Harrington
Curriculum Director

Ideal Timeline

• Print all Release Forms and send them home with students for parent signatures
• Divide students into five clans (Bear, Wolf, Panther, Deer, and Ringtail)  and send the names of students in each clan to Missy Harrington (mharrington@shumla.org) at Shumla so we can create personalized certificates.

• Shumla will bring clan buttons to your school
• Have signed Release Forms ready to hand off to Shumla representative
• Have students complete a Pre-Shumla Trip Worksheet
• Assign teachers and chaperones to each clan
• Print Map to Shumla for bus drivers

• Prior to boarding buses, distribute clan buttons to students, teachers and chaperones
• Have your Info Sheet and Schedule printed for your reference
• Arrive at Shumla at 9:30 am
• Turn in signed release forms if you have not already done so
• Tell us which students cannot have their pictures taken
• Have students put their lunches in their backpacks and turn off any electronic devices stored in their bags

• Give students a Post-Shumla Trip Worksheet and send back to Shumla

Here are links to the documents you need before your class comes to Shumla (PDF files):

Cover Letter
Release Forms KEY 4
Release Forms KEY 4 (Español)
Information Sheet and Day's Schedule
Map to Shumla