Green Team

Cushing Community School, Knox County
An exemplar of community support

“Green Team is just one way that we are trying to engage the community to connect our kids with the resources that are here- the resources that we value and the resources that provide an economic foundation for our town.”

DAWN JONES, Cushing Community School principal

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Three years ago, Dawn Jones, principal of Cushing Community School, pulled together a group of engaged community members to discuss an initiative to connect students and teachers at the school with local outdoor resources. Forming the group also allowed Jones to leverage the existing enthusiasm and expertise that individuals in Cushing had for contributing to the school. During an initial meeting comprised of gardeners, farmers, and other relevant enthusiastic experts, several goals for the initiative emerged:

1. Students should be aware of sustainability issues and learn how to be stewards of their environment.
2. Students need to be engaged in their learning, and connecting to the outdoors is a great strategy to do this.
3. Students need to learn about science.
4. Teachers need to feel comfortable going outside and knowing how to use the resources surrounding them at the school.

While no clear answer for achieving those goals emerged during the first meeting, the group made a shared commitment to continue to work together on this initiative. Individuals volunteered to do small projects at the school like helping to plant bulbs in the fall and clean up the school gardens. Over the course of the next year, the group along with other individuals, developed into the Cushing Community School Green Team and organized their first ever “Outdoor Science Day,” a full day of learning activitiesthat used the school’s outdoor spaces and aligned with science learning standards.

THE PROGRAM

On a typical Outdoor Science Day, students follow community volunteer Debby Kraft along the nature trail behind Cushing Community School, iPads in hand, documenting the species they find along the way. The pictures they take will be used to create a field guide for the nature trail. At another station, a local apple orchard owner teaches students how to make cider, and teachers discuss how the design of an apple press can link to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) engineering standards. At another station a community member with gardening experience helps students and teachers create jars with soil that will then settle over a period of time to demonstrate layering. Other stations manned by community members showcase different aspects of apples and ecosystem interactions. All stations are accompanied by information linking to the NGSS performance expectations so teachers can gain a better understanding of how Outdoor Science Day experiences can be linked to extended learning connected to standards in the future.

Outdoor Science Day not only engages students in fun and meaningful learning, but is designed to inspire teachers and give them ideas about how outdoor spaces can be a springboard for active science learning. Jones explains,

“I want the teachers to develop relationships with Green Team members. When they’re doing something in the classroom that relates to expertise in the com- munity, I want them to feel comfortable bringing those people in. I would love to have the Green Team become a group of community members that teachers can reach out to enhance learning in their classrooms.”

Fifth grade teacher Tina Moro describes the first Outdoor Science Day as an “eye-opening and incredibly rewarding” experience that allowed her to think outside the box. When creating her math and science curriculum for the year, she plans to incorporate the school garden into her lessons so students can have real world connections with the materials they are studying. Green Team community volunteer Debby Kraft said, “The kids loved it. They were more open to learning because it was a day out of the classroom.”

BENEFITS

One of the main benefits achieved by the Cushing Community School Green Team initiative and Outdoor Science Day was the excitement it generated in many of the school’s teachers to continue using outdoor spaces to educate students. Moro explained that the teachers are getting more comfortable with the garden beds, which scared them a bit at first since many of them didn’t have any gardening experience. Jones also echoed Moro in her observations that teachers were gaining more confidence in outdoor learning as a result of Outdoor Science Day. The community volunteers on the Green Team provided an opportunity for teachers to recognize that they could do this type of outdoor work as well, and Jones hopes to have even more outdoor learning after this year.

Another benefit of the program was its reduced cost. The Green Team is made up of community volunteers, and while there are some costs associated with getting the appropriate schoolground infrastructure (like garden beds, picnic tables, etc.) there are no large field trip or transportation costs because the resources are all on school grounds.

There are also benefits for the students involved. Jones explains, “Students get excited about outdoor spaces and how much they’re learning from them. And in the process they’re building a connection and feeling a sense of responsibility and stewardship for the wonderful community we live in.”

LESSONS LEARNED & NEXT STEPS

Both Moro and Jones emphasized the importance of community member support for this program and the willingness of local experts to share their knowledge with students. For other schools interested in developing their own Green Team, Moro suggests, “Reach out to community members and you will be amazed at what other people know. Ask for help. People want to help and see kids get excited about learning, so don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

One of the challenges of this initiative has been bringing the school and community together to integrate community expertise with the school’s learning goals. Jones explains,

“Bringing the two worlds together is one of the biggest challenges when you’re working with community members. If you go to larger organizations, they’re used to coming in and knowing how teachers want a lesson taught. Somebody who is a gardener, or who owns a farm, or who does lobstering, they’re not always thinking of learning goals. So how can we open that up so that community members can share their wonderful expertise, but do it in a way that teachers are using it to achieve learning goals and meet standards?”