LAND O'LAKES
Life, like the water cycle, sometimes takes a person full circle — a thought not lost on Jean Knight in the moments before she greeted a new group of students for the last time at Cross Bar Ranch.
After 37 years of teaching in Pasco, most of it as an instructor at three environmental education centers, Knight is retiring.
"I started with Pine View Middle, and I'm ending with Pine View Middle," she said Monday as a yellow bus rumbled up 6 miles of dirt road, bringing a day of adventure, knowledge and, perhaps, inspiration for budding scientists and environmentalists.
It's been a good gig for the teacher who once had designs on something else.
"I was going to be a teacher or a rock 'n' roll singer," Knight said.
She has managed to do both, moonlighting for a time with local bands. But teaching always has been at the forefront.
Knight, 59, was born in North Carolina, but grew up in Tampa.
"Jane Goodall and Jacques Cousteau were my heroes, but my mom instilled my love of nature," she said. "She took us to the beach often, where we would hunt for shells."
She graduated from Jefferson High in 1973 and obtained a bachelor's degree in zoology and science education from the University of South Florida. She was fresh out of college when she became a science teacher at the newly opened Pine View Middle School in Land O'Lakes.
Knight stayed for eight years before the lure of nature compelled her to apply for an opening in environmental education.
"I was excited about being able to take kids to an outdoor classroom — to be outside all the time," she said.
She's done that for 29 years, using what she calls "a big-picture curriculum with a focus on conservation."
It starts with lessons taught by classroom teachers in the schools, and culminates with a field trip to the Energy and Marine Center in Port Richey, the Jay B. Starkey Park Wilderness Education Center in New Port Richey or Cross Bar Ranch, in north Pasco. There, students learn hands-on the importance of protecting marine life, wildlife, the Floridan Aquifer and the Pithlaschascotee watershed, which flows through all three sites.
To say her lessons have had an impact is a given, with some 4,000 to 5,000 students revolving through the program each year.
"We are nationally acclaimed for our environmental programs, and we wouldn't be that way without Jean," said Laura Rulison-Lange, the school district's program coordinator for K-12 environmental science. "She has put a very positive imprint on environmental science."
She was integral in staff development as well.
Energy and Marine Center high school teacher Josh McCart said he owes his career, in part, to Knight, who was teaching at the EMC when he filtered through the program as a Hudson Elementary School student.
"Jean's passion for the environment and really everything she does is inspirational for me," said Donna Hogue, the elementary environmental teacher at the EMC. "I wouldn't be the teacher I am without her influence. My life and the lives of many teachers in Pasco County are richer because of Jean Knight."
"She's a pretty special person," said ranch bus driver and assistant teacher "Mr. Bob" Black, a man of many careers who is also retiring after three years at Knight's side. "A lot of people walk in and out of your life, and only special people and true friends leave footprints on your heart. She's left a lot of footprints on the hearts of kids and people all over the district."
For the past 13 years, Knight has overseen the Wetlands Ambassadors Program for seventh-graders at Starkey Park and at Cross Bar Ranch, a 12,500-acre well field owned by Pinellas County.
The idea is for students to see water as a valuable resource, Knight said. "To make the connection with the watershed — how it moves as well as the habitats and ecosystems it protects."
Success depends on middle school science teachers Knight works with and the brief window she has with students.
The final program for Pine View Middle students included building a wetlands model and a classroom lab on soil permeability. The highlight, as always, was a safari ride through the encompassing wetlands, uplands and a working pine plantation, with Knight serving as tour guide and Black tossing corn kernels to attract wildlife.
They encountered white-tailed deer, a couple of elusive scrub jays, gopher tortoises, sand hill cranes, a hefty male turkey and some of the 17 wells that pump 10 million to 20 million gallons of water daily to Pasco and neighboring counties.
Students got off the bus at one stop to determine the quality of the ecosystem at Mud Lake, named for it's murky bottom. As a mamma gator and her baby paddled in the distance, students netted a bounty of dragon flies, damsel flies, shrimp, snails, water scorpions and a predaceous diving beetle.
"Oh, a tadpole; we have our first tadpole!" Knight exclaimed as she poked through a student's catch.
"I'm really excited about this. I like science a lot," said Aiden Spears, 13, as he gingerly plucked a shrimp from his catch.
This is the stuff Knight is going to miss.
"I'm very proud of the school district and how supportive they have been of this program," she said. "I love that (Pasco) is not as developed as some other counties — that there are these open tracts of land so wildlife can move and water can flow like it's supposed to flow. I love watching students connect with nature — to see them catch a dragon fly and at first think it's creepy, then see how cool it is."
"It's going to be a big change," she said of retirement. "One door opens; another closes.
Her open door will lead back to the water. Knight recently purchased a condo on the Weeki Wachee River. She also plans to spend a lot of time in Michigan, visiting her daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons.
Family is the lure, but there's an added caveat to trekking north, Knight said.
"There's a lot of beautiful lakes and waterways there that I'm excited to explore."
Michele Miller can be reached at mmiller@tampabay.com or (727) 869-6251. Follow @MicheleMiller52.