Professional-development requirements and an invitation from Pandas International, a nonprofit dedicated to panda research and preservation in China, blended into a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Village School kindergarten teacher Shea Morris. ‘Our kindergarten class has adopted a panda, Tong Tong, for eight consecutive years with money raised from annual bake sales,’ said Morris, who has taught at Village for five years. ‘In mid-August I received an invitation to attend the eighth annual Hug My Baby event at Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya’an, China.’ Morris, a Pacific Palisades resident, explained that Village kindergarten students explore three continents’Asia, South America and Africa’as part of their social studies curriculum, then hold a fundraiser centered on animals. It costs $600 a year to adopt a panda, which provides for bamboo, a keeper’s salary and veterinarian bills. Generally, Village students hold a bake sale on the kindergarten yard, and last year they raised $825. Kindergarten students also make key chains and sell them to support the African Wildlife Foundation, and participate in a read-a-thon with money going to Heifer International, which helps a needy family with a gift animal. Panda International, based in Colorado, paid Morris’ hotel and food costs, while Village School administrators covered the cost of her transportation. She left Los Angeles on September 24 and arrived in China on September 26, joining a group of panda-club supporters from Washington, D.C., Florida, Hawaii, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia. The Conservation Center, located at the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province, was established in 1963. Giant pandas were classified as an endangered species in the 1980s; it is estimated that there are only about 1,600 pandas in the wild, and about 325 in captivity. Since the Chinese government has instituted strict laws protecting the animal, poaching has become rare. Nevertheless, with civilization encroaching on the pandas’ territories, not only is their bamboo food source dwindling, but they are increasingly forced into isolated ‘islands,’ preventing genetic diversity. Morris’ trip included two days at the Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya’an, while the Wolong Nature Reserve, which was destroyed by a 2008 earthquake, is being rebuilt. ‘We spent a day visiting the epicenter of the earthquake that killed 70,000,’ Morris said. ‘There was a school destroyed in the earthquake and left as a memorial. It was emotional.” Daily, Morris sent e-mails to her Village School class. ‘Day 1. Today I volunteered at the Bifengxia Panda Base cleaning the villa for two pandas: Tai Shan (who was born in Washington, D.C.) and Fu Long’sweeping up bamboo and panda poo! Afterwards, I went to the command center for all the live cameras on the base and viewed several panda cubs with their mothers in a semi-wild area.’ ‘Next, I visited a panda kindergarten, which has three sections:’a nursery, one-year-olds and two-year-olds.’In the nursery were several twin cubs.’A panda mother will only take care of one cub, so the keepers rotate twin cubs so they both get time with their mom.’ ‘Day 2. We visited the Panda Rescue and Disease Control in Yingxiu and met the veterinarian. The goal is to help pandas from the wild and return them to the wild. In one enclosure there were two other pandas who had lost legs due to traps set by hunters and cannot go back to the wild.’ (‘When a panda is injured and makes its way to a village, people are trained to report it,’ Morris told the Palisadian-Post. ‘A panda with a toothache is treated, and then released back to the wild.’) That afternoon, Morris prepared food wowotou (panda bread) and carrots for Tai Shan and Fu Long. Later she visited Tong Tong, the panda adopted by Village School. ‘Day 3. I visited Tong Tong one more time. The keepers were cleaning his area so he was once again inside. He was eating panda bread and I got to watch.’He makes lots of noises when he eats. As soon as Tong Tong finished, he moved around and seemed anxious to go outside. He stretched by standing up and putting his paws on the gate. Before heading back to Ya’an, I happily saw Village School listed under ‘American Adopters’ on the Honor Wall.’ Morris flew home on September 30. ‘Kudos to Pandas International for hosting the event to spread knowledge about the amazing animals and their conservation,’ she said. ‘I cannot wait to have the panda bake sale this winter, so that students can adopt Tong Tong once again.” Morris, who grew up in Oklahoma City, received her bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree in education from Clemson University. After college, she worked in student affairs at St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana, and met her husband, Brett, who was working in the athletic department at Notre Dame. The couple moved to Santa Monica in 2004, where Morris taught at the Methodist preschool for a year. The couple, who have two daughters, Carter (10) and Avery (6) moved to the Palisades in 2010. Brett works as a researcher for Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres and Magnolia Pictures.
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