Talking Talons Youth Leadership [visit web site] Talking Talons was founded in the fall of 1988 by Wendy Crouch Aeschliman, then serving as school nurse of Roosevelt Middle School in Tijeras, NM. As a Registered Nurse with a Master’s Degree in Education from Harvard University and a wildlife rehabilitator licensed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Wendy often gave community wildlife presentations to teach others about the live non-releasable birds of prey in her care. The Talking Talons program began as a means of motivating and supporting a small group of youth who frequently visited Wendy’s office with complaints of stomach or head aches, but in reality seemed frustrated due to their inability to successfully cope with the social and academic pressures of adolescence. Talking Talons was conceived with the purpose of raising the self-esteem in these students, placing them in roles they felt were important.