Union Street School students exploring new state park

The students the fifth grade at Union Street School are undertaking a year-long project to explore, examine and learn about Muckross State Park, located off Paddock Rd. in Springfield.

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Union Street School students exploring new state park By NEIL P. ALLEN Several of Vanessa Stern’s fifth grade students gather on a stonewall to talk about the assignment and write in their journals as they ate their snacks in Muckross State Park. Several of Vanessa Stern’s fifth grade students gather on a stonewall to talk about the assignment and write in their journals as they ate their snacks in Muckross State Park. SPRINGFIELD — The students the fifth grade at Union Street School are undertaking a year-long project to explore, examine and learn about Muckross State Park, located off Paddock Rd. in Springfield. At the end of Muckross Road stands the home of the late State Sen. Edgar May. Before his death, he bequeathed his property to the town of Springfield with the intention of providing opportunities for environmental education for children, according to Vanessa Stern, one of the fifth grade teachers at Union Street School. The 204-acre property was acquired by the state of Vermont on July 8, after a four-year process. They named it Muckross State Park as it was the name local residents knew for the property. The fifth grade students will be going to the newly established state park twice a month over the course of the school year applying what they learn in the classroom with what they see and experience in their new 'outdoor' classroom. Then, they will take what they learn about the park and create an exhibit that shares the geological, agricultural and personal history of the property that will be on display at the Great Hall, located at 100 River St., during the week of May 21, 2017 and will be open to the public. The inspiration for the project came to Stern when she was visiting the Clark Museum in Williamstown, Massachusetts over the summer. "They had an exhibit called "Sensing Place: Reflections on Stone Hill," she said as the students in her class sat on the ground and rocks at the state park to work on their assignment and write in their journals while they enjoyed a snack. "It got me thinking about how we could do that One of Vanessa Stern's fifth grade students working on her assigment curled up next to a tree in Muckross State Park. One of Vanessa Stern's fifth grade students working on her assigment curled up next to a tree in Muckross State Park. with Muckross State Park." Stern applied for and received a grant from the Wellborn Ecology Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to cover the cost of transportation to and from the park. "The project will get them out in nature," said Stern. "This is a new place to learn ecology, practice stewardship and educate the public — you can learn a lot while teaching others.” The stewardship will include possibly clearing away invasive plant species, cleaning up the park and trail maintenance — “pretty much anything we think they would be capable of doing,” Stern said. “We’re going to be coming through the winter so they will also learn how to dress appropriately,” she continued. “I think it will be really important for them to see the park in all the seasons.” The students in Stern, Jerry Weeks and Sarah Taylor’s classes will work with an AmeriCorps volunteer for the VT Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation and several park rangers to help get the park ready for the public. They will also use the park as an outdoor classroom as they engage in a variety of ecology lessons with their teachers. On Friday, Oct. 14, the students, their teachers and assistants made the half-mile trek down Muckross Rd. to the homestead and met forester Aaron Hurst. It is his job to work with the trees on state-owned property in Windham and Windsor counties covering approximately 100,000 acres of land. “I look at a lot of different trees,” Hurst said to Stern’s class. “It is really important for me to be able to differentiate the trees. Why do you think it would be important to know what the tree is?” “So you know what leaves can be eaten,” said one student. “Yes, that’s true. You also need to know what the tree is so you know what it can be used for,” said Hurst. “How can you identify a tree?” The students looked at the trees around them then called out answers — bark, leaves and tree form. The students continued to display their knowledge from the classroom to answer Hurst’s questions. If they didn’t offer the answer Hurst was looking for, he challenged them to figure out the answer based on what they could observe from the trees around them. Before long it was time for the students to pack up their stuff and head back down Muckross Rd. to the bus waiting for them.