Seven-year-old Jaden was sitting quietly amongst the moss and ferns near the Iris Griffith Centre. He wrote in his journal, "There are so many trees above us and they protect us but then they drop their rain drops on us."
Last week Jaden and his Grade 2 class from Roberts Creek Elementary School were the first pilot class in an innovative program called Nature School. Nancy Benmore and two student teachers brought the class every day for the entire week and used the beautiful new cedar log building as their classroom. Her team partner, Bev Craig, is bringing her class this week.
The two student teachers, Rita Joe and Bronwyn Thomson, used Nature School as a catalyst for a long-term study with both classes, focusing on animal and plant life cycles, one of the B.C. curriculum science topics. At school, the students studied the salmon life cycle, going down to Roberts Creek to see the spawning salmon and doing dissections of sockeye that Rita had brought. Joe, a member of the Sechelt Nation, then baked the fish and the classes had a mini potlatch with the children and parents.
Nature School is not a traditional field trip. A week at the centre is tailor-made for each class and the classroom teachers develop and teach the activities, assisted by the staff at the Iris Griffith Centre, Georgia Ohm and Lee Ann Ennis.
The main topic for these two weeks has been trees, so Joe taught the students about First Nations use of cedar, and they got to weave some strips into bracelets. Thomson taught them about the traditional and modern uses of trees as medicine. The staff members led hikes and did activities on tree rings and bark. The children also learned about animal bones and had a session on animal signs in the forest. The highlight of each day was the hour-long observation time where small groups of students and parents would sit in a quiet spot at the lagoon, at the wetlands or in the forest and draw and write in their journals. Basic skills, especially writing, are enhanced through these real-life experiences.
The main goal of the Nature School program, modelled on the award-winning Open Minds program in Calgary, is to immerse students in the community, using its resources to enrich learning. The extended time allows students to slow down and really see what is around them. As one parent said, "Up here (on the Sunshine Coast) we are surrounded by so much nature but we rush by it - this allows the kids to slow down and pay attention."
The Ruby Lake Lagoon Society, which built the Iris Griffith Centre and conserved the land with the help of many in the community, is hoping to create a sense of stewardship with this exciting program. Two more classes from Davis Bay Elementary School and Ecole du Pacifique in Sechelt will participate next May. The Ruby Lake Lagoon Society is pursuing further funding so Nature School can expand in the following year. For more information contact Gillian Kydd at 604-885 0151.
