Birdhouse project taking flight
By DIANE GASPER-O'BRIEN
One day, they talked to adults. The next day, teenagers were the audience.
Their message was the same, but "we just offered it differently."
So marked the debut of the Kris Munsch-Jeff Fouquet presentations about their book, "The Birdhouse Project: Healing through the Collaboration of the Heart, Mind and Hands."
Munsch, a former Hays resident who now is a high school industrial technology teacher in Bonner Springs, started the book as a school project and focused on the rebuilding of his life after the death of his 16-year-old son, Blake, in a car accident about four years ago.
He and Fouquet, who like Munsch is a Fort Hays State University graduate and now a high school teacher, were in Hays on Saturday for a book signing and gave presentations in Ness City, Munsch's hometown, the next two days.
On Sunday, about 50 adults attended the presentation at the Ness County Bank Building.
On Monday, the duo was in Munsch's alma mater, Ness City High School, talking to seventh- and eighth-graders from both the public and Catholic grade schools in Ness City, as well as high school students from Ness City and Ransom-Western Plains.
Being teachers, they were comfortable in front of students.
And Ness City High School Principal Tom Flax said it was "not your typical school assembly, but a very good one."
Munsch and Fouquet talk about building the birdhouse, for which supplies come with the book, as a way of having your hands help in the healing process from some type of crisis.
"For their first time presenting to a student body, they did a very good job," Flax said. "I think they did a good job of relating to everyone in the audience in some way or another, reached different kids on different levels."
"Not everybody's story is the same," Flax added, "and (Munsch and Fouquet) do a good job of telling how you work to get through your problem."
Fouquet knew Munsch when they lived in Hays, and he was teaching English at Bonner Springs High School when Munsch was hired there three years ago.
The two combined their talents for the birdhouse project, which was published in December, with plans to someday go out and give presentations about rebuilding your life after a tragedy or loss of any kind.
The idea caught on in a hurry.
"It's taking on a life of its own," Munsch said. "We're getting all sorts of contacts to present to counselors, hospice, school districts, psychologists, the local university ... all are seeing this as a great hands-on tool."
That's exactly what Munsch had in mind when he organized a project for his high school students to build a birdhouse with second-graders.
He presented the project at a staff development conference in Wichita later that year, connecting project-based learning to the birdhouse.
"I tied it to healing and called it project-based healing," Munsch said. "And it just took off."
Fouqet is working on a sequel to "The Birdhouse Project." That book, scheduled to hit bookstores this summer, will be targeted toward a teenage audience.
He said he made "some bad choices" as a youngster and always had wanted a way to tell his story to help other teenagers.
Joining forces with Munsch has helped him do just that.
"Rebuilding his life is a lot like the steps for rebuilding my life," said Fouquet, who edited Munsch's initial draft of the first book. "It's a metaphor for the grieving process."
"It's about loss of identity, which is what a lot of our youth is facing today," Fouquet added. "Hopefully this can help them through the chaos, madness, uncertainty, help them rebuild who they want to be."
More information about the book, how to purchase and how to contact Munsch or Fouquet can be found on their Web site at www.thebirdhouseproject.com.
The book also can be bought locally at several local stores, including The Messenger, 2512 Vine; The Rock Good Bookstore; 1012 Main, and Hastings Books, Music and Videos, 3300 Vine.