Germaine Koomen, a teacher at Hill View Montessori Charter Public School in Haverhill, was among those showcasing her students’ work within the Park for Every Classroom program last week at the Salem Visitor Center.
The Park for Every Classroom program is offered by Essex Heritage and the National Park Service, which offered a “train the trainer” program supporting kindergarten through 12th grade educators in creating projects with students that utilize their communities’ natural, cultural and historic resources.
Hill View Montessori Charter Public School students spent the school year exploring energy sources and how they affect the local region. Among other activities, they visited Covanta to see how some energy is generated from trash, analyzed their own individual energy uses at home and school and worked with the Northeast Urban Forest Advocacy to understand the benefits of their inventory of trees on campus. They shared what they learned at an Energy Fair celebration to create awareness about these issues in the larger school community.
Using the training they received, educators across the region worked with students and community partners to develop projects that align with curriculum, engage in their local place and serve a “real world” need. Four hundred ninety-seven students were served by the program this year.