Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness unparalleled environment is a treasure trove for inquisitive explorers. Just ask Greenville School’s seventh graders, who recently supplemented textbook learning with tangible discoveries.
During an overnight trip to AMC’s Little Lyford Wilderness Lodge and Cabins in September, 23 students put their science lessons on flora identification to the test. They scoured the surrounding area for coniferous and deciduous tree trees, and using their memory, photos, and illustrations, they successfully identified their findings. The only thing more intense than their smiles was their eagerness to complete the task at hand.
“Anytime you get students to get actively engaged in something, the learning is more long term,” says Greenville Principal Rebecca Brown. “AMC provides us with a way to give a unique learning opportunity to our students due to the natural resources we have [near us].”
AMC has introduced similar outreach efforts at Maine’s Brownville Elementary, Milo Elementary, McKusick Elementary in Parkman, and Shirley Elementary in Shirley Mills. Dubbed the Moosehead Area Schools Project, this initiative, which began in 2008, is an educational component of AMC’s Maine Woods Initiative. It aims to have each of the nearly 3,300 elementary, middle, and high school students in Piscataquis County complete three outdoor experiences before graduating, including an overnight stay at one of AMC’s lodges. Introducing grade schoolers to the outdoors is currently the project’s primary goal. Last year, 476 students participated in AMC’s A Mountain Classroom in Maine program, a component of the project held at Little Lyford, and indoor and outdoor lessons at local schools.
Overseeing the schools project is AMC Maine Woods Initiative Programs Manager Shannon LeRoy, whose unconventional approach to teaching apparently sparks students’ curiosities. She typically briefs them on such topics as map and compass, vernal pools, geology, habitats, tree identification, plant structure, and wildlife before sending them out into the field. During a recent lesson at Brownville Elementary, she surprised the classroom by showcasing a porcupine skull. “Hey kids, look what I found in the woods!” she exclaimed to the students, who responded with “oohs” and “aahs.”
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“Every time I walk into a class it’s going to be different, so I try to figure out what gets the kids excited and I feed off of their excitement,” she says. “You have to have something very unusual to start with. You can’t walk in with a maple leaf.”
Since the project spans five school districts and expands on AMC’s existing outreach efforts in Maine, LeRoy hopes other schools will contribute to its growth. “Right now, I’m just trying to break the barriers of traditional classroom studies and get other schools to open up to this type of learning.”
