March 24, 2008 was a great day for Wildlife Research Team. It was Environmental Awareness Day at Pioneer Middle School in Cooper City, Florida. I was invited to speak to several seventh-grade classes about WRT. My home base classroom was Mrs. Angela McBee's, and for several hours different groups of students filed in and sat through my presentation of photos of our Team's history. They asked some very good questions and I felt happy with the day.

A few days later, I received a phone call from a very nice, very enthusiastic woman who wanted to volunteer her time and that of her daughters. Her name was Karianne Bonello, and her daughter Jenni had been one of the students who'd gotten enough out of my presentation to get her mom fired up enough to call me. On our very next waterway cleanup, Karianne, Jenni, and little sister Leanne did indeed volunteer their precious time and soon became members of WRT!

We are delighted to feature Jenni this month as one of our outstanding volunteers. If ever there was a young woman who loves the water, that's Jenni! She doesn't even remember when she learned to swim; she began to snorkel at age three. Considering she was born way up north in cold Michigan, that's quite an accomplishment. But her folks love the water and have been certified divers for years, so they passed that love on to their girls. Jenni joined the swim team in grade two and won at many meets over these past seven years, making it to the Junior Olympics two years in a row. She began paddling a kayak all by herself at age four or five, and it shows, when she grabs a WRT double paddle and zooms off!Her mom is frequently her stern paddler and we have photos to prove they sure don't mind getting wet and dirty in the best WRT fashion.

One thing Jenni doesn't like is "when my gills get dry" so she finds as many ways as possible to keep 'em wet. She's been waterskiing since the age of 11, and on July 14, 2007, earned her certification as a scuba diver. She's made dives up in Michigan in the White Star Quarry and down in the Bahamas, making a shark dive at Star Cove in Grand Bahama Island.

She enjoys making friends in our Team such as our Boy Scout super volunteers Freddy and Fernando Masterson. They all earned a ton of community service hours in 2008, while keeping all of us laughing with their antics. They are all united in their love of Ford Mustangs, and Jenni hopes to save up enough to buy her own one of these days. She's off to a good start, as she got the first job she ever applied for, soon after turning 14, as a Winn-Dixie bagger. Her work ethic is phenomenal and she's a caring and compassionate person.

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