Spring is the busiest time of year for CELT education programs! As plants and animals emerge from dormancy or return from migration, the trails around town come to life and it’s a great time for students to get out of their classrooms.
First graders explored New England Cottontail habitat at Runaway Farm, to complement their earlier study of endangered animals in a program that was new this year. They played games to simulate predator-prey relationships and constructed their own mini rabbit habitats. Second graders studied wildflowers and plant parts at Robinson Woods, counting over 200 Lady Slipper orchids along the Wildflower Trail. Fourth graders took their final visit to Robinson Woods, studying the same trail three times over the course of the year. Highlights from their visit included seeing salamander eggs and tadpoles.
For the third year in a row, fifth grade students constructed gnome houses and created a village at Turkey Hill Farm. They’ll be up all summer for folks to find while they’re on the trails. CELT educators joined sixth grade students at Trout Brook Nature Preserve in South Portland to release trout they had been raising in their classrooms. CELT has also supported this program in the past through our mini-grants, a funding opportunity for Cape Elizabeth teachers to purchase supplies and materials for environmental education in their classrooms.
Some middle school students participated in “Beach Combing for a Cause”, a six-week elective where students cleaned up trash at Crescent Beach State Park and then created art from their collected materials. Finished pieces were hung up in the middle school entryway along with artist statements the students wrote about their pieces and thoughts about climate change and ocean pollution.
To round out the school year, high school Graphic Design 1 students designed branding kits for local businesses, including CELT. Their designs were thoughtful and encompassed colors and elements from research about the organization. If you would like to support CELT and purchase a shirt with their logo designs, check out our new Bonfire Merch Store! Thank you to Mia, Sadie, and Lilly for allowing us to share their designs with our community!
We are so grateful for our partnership with the Cape Elizabeth School District and their continued support for our school programming. We are already looking forward to the next school year!
