Laura Boswell and Carol Kline’s sixth grade science classes are studying reptiles. On April 17, the teachers took their lessons outside the classroom so students could experience a personal encounter with ‘Gertie,’ a spur-thighed tortoise that lives in a beautiful habitat outside the science classroom. Gertie has been living on the Bolles Middle School Bartram Campus for 15 years. He started at Bolles as a little tortoise living in a tank inside Boswell’s classroom. Over the years, Gertie has grown and now enjoys being outdoors. Students learn many lessons from Gertie, including reptile characteristics and food consumption, as well as specialized adaptions reptiles make to survive in their environments and how to compare and contrast turtles and tortoises. “It was a beautiful day to make a new friend,” said English teacher neighbor Deborah Carney.