(Edmonton) Clutching her pencil, lips pursed, Kaelie Bittorf studies a coconut, a flower bulb and a scattering of poppy seeds arranged at her elbow. Her hand glides across the page of a notebook, and her rendering of the plant trio comes to life.
The sketch fills one more page in a journal the 10-year-old started keeping when she stepped off her school bus last week into the rich, earthy wilds of the Devonian Botanic Garden and began her first day of class at Green School, a week-long program for elementary classes that focuses on conservation and biodiversity.
Green School was first offered last year through the University of Albertas sprawling garden property southwest of Edmonton as a way to help children connect with nature in a meaningful way, said co-ordinator Antonella Bell. Now into its second year, the program runs throughout the school year at the garden, each week inspiring a new class of youngsters.
Its not a field trip, but a life experience, said Bell.
The students have never been in the woods or a wetland. Some have never seen a live frog; theyve only seen pictures. The Green School is about awakening a sense of wonder and emotional connection to the natural world. We get the kids to slow down and start really becoming aware of whats around them.
Bittorf and her Grade 5 classmates from Edmontons Michael A. Kostek School spent every day last week at the garden, leaving behind their conventional classroom and its rules for softer, more reflective lessons that reached for the heart, not the head.
Throughout the week, the students explored jewel-like gardens filled with both ordinary and extraordinary citizens of the plant world, adopted plant buddies, went on long hikes to study animal tracks and observed wildlife on the gardens grounds. They were also expected to keep personal journals to mark down what they saw and felt throughout the week.
Bittorf made her first journal entry while in the Devonians Japanese garden, drinking in its serenity. Fittingly, I started my journal at the girl stream, she wrote. Hearing the softness of the stream makes me relax, even though I am sitting on a freezing rock. This stream represents girls (slow and quiet). The other stream has a waterfall and represents boys (fast and loud).
This is the second year teacher Carol Anne Konkin has brought students to Green School for fresh-air, up-close lessons that she says cant be matched within the four walls of a classroom. It brings their world to them in a way they can understand and connect with.
It also inspires some of them to new heights of expression, she added. Some of the kids who find it difficult to write in the classroom, their pages come alive out here.
One of the most popular events during the week was a long, cold but exhilarating hike to watch wildlife and to identify animal scat. Along the way the class spotted ruffed grouse, squirrels and fungus.
I saw a lot of deer tracks and where porcupines ate a tree, said Konnar Meachem, 10. We dont usually see nature like that. He said hell miss the hikes at the garden, and all the fresh air.
Ill remember being cold on that walk, but Ill also remember going to the Japanese garden and seeing the larch turn colour, added Bittorf.
By weeks end, the youngsters had a new understanding of nature and of their responsibility as its guardians.
Its really moving, said Konkin. The students really get emotional about how we should be looking after the environment and they gain that respect we need to have for it.
The Green School got a boost when Bob Westbury, chair of the Telus Edmonton Community Board, dropped into the garden last week to present a $14,000 cheque to help support the program.
We give where we live, thats what Telus believes in, Westbury said as he mingled with the students in one of the greenhouses. I cant think of a better way to share this gift. When we see the enthusiasm of the kids, it makes it worth doing.
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i freaking go to this school gr.4 m.a.k
Legoman519 1 year ago
i was heren this year at green school
doghorselover145361 2 years ago