Rhythms of the Refuge Educator's Guide is designed to assist students? learning, discovery, and enjoyment of the environment in hopes that they will become informed citizens and responsible land stewards who protect Horicon Marsh's habitats and wildlife. It contains eight chapters plus appendices which provide background information, logistical arrangements, bus activities, service learning projects, travelling resource trunk inventories, and 30 indoor and outdoor lesson plans led by Refuge staff or self-guided by teachers. Educators can simply view the guidebook on-line and print out any or all sections of it for their reference. They may adapt the materials to best match the needs of their students. Each lesson plan includes extension and assessment ideas for a seamless flow in an existing unit or building a new one.

Many of the materials found in Rhythms of the Refuge have never before been available to teachers, especially the lesson plans and trunk inventories. About one-half of the lessons are new additions. Most are also integrated with the Wisconsin Federal Junior Duck Stamp contest curriculum, Horicon Refuge videos, and/or the centennial music compact disc called Songs of the System.

Lesson plans have been correlated to support the Wisconsin Model Academic standards for learning in five subject areas: science, social studies, math, language arts, and environmental education. The standards work done with Rhythms will give educators and administrators added incentive and justification to use Horicon Marsh as an authentic integrating context for multiple subject areas and across grade levels for a sequence of learning.

In the future, educators may receive additional assistance through professional development opportunties such as workshops and in-services offered by the Refuge to help them become more familiar with environmental education sites, services, and programs offered.

In 2002, ranger Stoddard began the task of helping to field test and pilot the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's draft editions of Rhythms of the Refuge educator and planning guides. She worked with Diane Emmons of the Region 6 Denver office of the Service; Emmons originated the project. The guides will ultimately be distributed to all field stations in the National Wildlife Refuge System from the National Conservation Training Center later in 2005. The educator guide, which will be modifiable by field station personnel, provides lessons which Refuge employees and volunteers can teach to students or which teachers can use for self-guided field trips and classroom extensions. The planning guide provides processes for field stations to develop an environmental education strategy. As a result, staff develop an environmental education plan for their station which supports the station's Comprehensive Conservation Plan.

As part of this pilot, Stoddard led an effort to evaluate Horicon's existing environmental education program as well as field tested several of the activities with school groups. The evaluation process included meeting with Refuge employees to determine staff needs, messages, and objectives. It also included meeting with original and new partners and with educators to obtain their input and determine partnership potential and program niche. As a result, Stoddard wrote a Five-Year, Preschool through 12th Grade Environmental Education Plan which was completed and distributed in 2003, also available from the Refuge's web site. Horicon National Wildlife Refuge's completion of Rhythms of the Refuge Educator Guide fulfills one of the major components of the Refuge's environmental education plan.

The following 13 local educators and adminstrators from nine communities assisted with correlating the lessons to the state standards in 2003-2004: Jill R. Bell (Trinity Lutheran School, Mequon, WI), Kathryn Calder (Washington Elementary, Waupun, WI), Liz Roy (Belle Reynolds Elementary, Oakfield, WI), Merlin Pieper (Lincoln Elementary, Hartford, WI), Jason Buchholz (Jefferson Elementary, Waupun, WI), Sue Olstad (Chegwin Elementary, Fond du Lac, WI), Will Manier (Oakfield Middle School, WI), Amy McCargar (St. John's School, Mishicot, WI), Rick Eckerstorfer (Beaver Dam Charter School, WI), Diane Whittow (Beaver Dam Charter School, WI), Alice Rodgers (Herman School, WI), Laura Myre (Beaver Dam Charter School, WI), Terri Fuller (Parkview Elementary, Mayville, WI). They were assisted by Horicon Refuge employees: Dick Kloepner, Hallie Rasmussen, and Molly Stoddard.

The following 14 local educators and administrators from nine communities helped field test some of the lesson plans found in Rhythms of the Refuge: Patrice Vossekuil (Cooperative Education Services Agency 6, Oshkosh, WI, for distance education classes), Alan Fuller and Diane Wieneke (Mayville Middle School, WI, for the Sense of Place project), Phil Sadowski (Mayville Middle School, WI, for Camp Anokijig), Deanna Gochenaur and Mike Kurtz (Parks and Recreation Department, Mayville, WI for the Ted and Gloria Bachuber Fitness Center), and for National Wildlife Refuge Week 2002 -- Pat Bruhn (Chegwin Elementary, Fond du Lac, WI), Kathy Purdy (Logos Home School, Iron Ridge, WI), Cindy and Doug Stauss (St. John's Lutheran School, Montello, WI), Edna Nolan (St. John's Lutheran School, Juneau, WI), Sandy Fenske (Markesan Elementary, WI), Dave Imhoff (Washington Elementary, Waupun, WI), and Vicki Frinack (Jefferson Elementary, Beaver Dam, WI). These educators were assisted by six Refuge volunteers, Kay Voelker (Beaver Dam), Nancy Hall (Fort Atkinson), Bonnie Paskey (Markesan), Roy Zastrow (Mayville), Liz Roy (Oakfield), Nancy Steinback (Beaver Dam), and employees Hallie Rasmussen and Molly Stoddard.

Partners in the Rhythms of the Refuge project included the Friends of Horicon National Wildlife Refuge who matched a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Challenge Cost-Share Grant.