What she’s paid to do: teach.
What she wants to do: nurture and motivate.
The stuffed birds that line the walls of her science classroom speak to her relationship with students, a mama bird minding the nest.
Hunter Kinney, 17, president of the Southwestern High School Raptor Rehabilitation Program, knows first-hand about the nurturing.
“Carter shows us how to nurture the birds through her own care for us,” he said.
And the motivation?
Hunter said taking care of the birds is a part of him now.
“I’ve learned so much about myself,” he said.
Francis serves as adviser for the Raptor program, which takes in injured birds of prey and nurses them back to health, hopefully for release into the wild.
The signs of her value to students hang on her office door: “Thank You” cards and printouts of emails from students.
She even teaches alongside a former student now, Kyle Curry.
And the birds cared for in the program now have favorite students, Francis says.
For example, April Norfleet, a junior and member of the Conservation Club, works directly with Typo, a Great Horned Owl, one of the most aggressive birds kept in the education center, but who seems to favor April.
Each Thursday afternoon, students in the club gather to clean cages and bring out the birds to help them practice perching. Hunter Kinney does a large portion of the directing while Francis watches over, not stepping in too far, and only when needed.
And sometimes, Francis’ students fall from the nest. Not a problem.
Failure can make the best teaching tool sometimes, she says.
“I let students try on their own, so they can problem solve,” Francis says. “When they do, they are always more proud than if I would have showed them exactly what to do.”
