St. Louis showing March 16

St. Louis kids will get a chance this month to learn about Missouri’s wildlife and outdoors through a special video. 

Jan Syrigos is a naturalist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. But, she’s also a singer who likes to tell kids about nature through songs she’s written.

In the video, she teamed with some young kids from a Jefferson City drama group. The video is called “Critter Rock.” 

A premiere showing of the video will be held Friday, March 16, in St. Louis. The event starts at 7 p.m. at the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center in Kirkwood. That’s at the intersection of Interstates 270 and 44. 

For directions, call (314) 301-1500. 

Syrigos has recorded a lot of her original songs that teach outdoor lessons. The “Critter Rock” CD and tapes included 18 different songs. Half of them are sing-along tunes. 

Now, she has taken six of her favorites and added film and other visual images.

The filming was where the kid actors and singers came in. There is a performance group in Jefferson City called A Children’s Theatrical Performing Arts Core. That’s ACTPAC for short. 

Syrigos and the kids went on location around Missouri to sing some of the songs as well as dance to the tunes. The six songs on the video are: 

• “Habitat” That includes film clips of prairies, caves and other Missouri wildlife areas. 
• “Reptile Rap” Pictures of snakes, turtles, alligators and lizards that are native to Missouri are included. 
• “Jabber Jaws” Missourian Ralph Duren recorded 40 different wildlife calls. He’s the U.S. Wild Turkey Call champion. 
• “No Trash-passing” That includes film of cleanup efforts by Stream Teams in Missouri. Those are groups of adults and kids who adopt a stream and promise to keep it clean. 
• “Hairy not Scary” That’s all about bats in Missouri. 
• “Pioneer” This was filmed on the Hi Lonesome Prairie near Sedalia. It also includes a reenactment of a pioneer wagon going across the prairie. 

Syrigos has been with the department since 1993. As a naturalist, she gives wildlife talks and programs across the state. But, she’s a song writer and performer in her spare time. 

That led her to create original wildlife songs for her conservation talks. “I wanted the kids to go home with a special message about the outdoors that they’d remember,” she said. 

The department began recording the performances. First, there was the CD and tapes. Those recordings won a 1999 Parents Choice award. Next was a sing-along song book. 

In addition, Syrigos has performed outside of Missouri. She’s taken her “Critter Rock” shows to as far as Belize in Central America.

The video is the latest effort to provide the unique outdoor messages that kids would appreciate and remember, she said. 

As far as what’s next, the “Critter Rock” video will be nominated in April for an Emmy award. It also will be entered in the latest Parents Choice competition. 

Syrigos also said, “I’ve got about five new songs written so I imagine a new recording will be coming in the future.”

If you want to get copies of the video, CD, tapes or songbooks, you can log on to the department’s webstore at www.mdcnatureshop.com. Or you can order by writing to:
 

Also, you can phone in your order to (573) 751-4115, Ext. 3828.