McBride Natural History Scholarship Fund

For 30 years, Florence McBride has shared her love and knowledge of birds and interest in science with Hamden students and teachers, working with them as a specialist in the Hamden Public Schools’ Partners in Science Program. School-site-based with occasional field trips, the program is centered in outdoor observation of birds, and makes many interdisciplinary connections. At first four elementary school classes were participating, but it wasn't long before McBride and classroom teachers were conducting her "Take Flight" program's activities in all Hamden's elementary schools. About 5,700 students and 200 teachers have had experience with the program, and its approaches and materials have been shared with many other educators in Connecticut and beyond, through workshops and correspondence.

Florence has been honored for her work by the Connecticut Science Teachers Association, the Connecticut Ornithology Association, the Hamden Land Trust, and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Her most meaningful reward has been the response of students and teachers to the program's activities; she was thrilled to hear a third grade boy exclaim, in the early spring woods by the Mill River: "This is the best day of my life!"

To celebrate her 80th birthday, Florence and her husband Michael established the McBride Natural History Scholarship Fund at The Foundation in 2019. The Fund will support Hamden High School in providing scholarships based on demonstrated interest in Natural History, Field Biology and/or Ornithology, with financial need and academic performance as secondary criteria.