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LEEEP
The Learning about the Environment through Experiential Education Program (LEEEP) has been operating for 5 years at MCS, currently under the direction of LEEEP Coordinator, Lindsay Putnam. She is available to help classroom teachers with their study of the environmental habitat area for their grade level. Grade 1 has taken trips to the meadow in the Nature Area; Grade 2 has visited Blood Brook; Grade 3 has studied the forest habitat; Grade 4 has visited ponds, vernal pools, and bogs; Grade 5 has studied Blood Brook at a more advanced level; Grade 6 takes a trip to the Ocean.
Last year the program focused on stewardship with four new projects in grades 2-5. Second grade participated in a session offered by a ranger from the Green Mountain National Forest who specializes in the "Leave No Trace" program, a national program to teach stewardship of the environment through minimization of human impact when camping, hiking, etc. Second graders learned about "Leave No Trace" at the stream, through games and activities, as part of their stream habitat study. Grade 3 undertook a wildlife inventory of the Frye Nature Area with help from community members, the Norwich Conservation Commission, and wildlife specialists. This began in winter via wildlife tracking and continued through the spring as part of the 3rd grade study of birds. Fourth grade did a vernal pool study of a site on the Ballard Trail, with the hope of highlighting for the school and community the vital importance of these ephemeral wetland areas. Grade 5 participated in the spring in a water quality study of Blood Brook. In addition, stewardship of the environment has always been a part of the LEEEP program and will continue via biannual Green-Up Days, and other community service projects which the classes undertake, such as spreading mulch on the Nature Area trails.
LEEEP has also helped to initiate the Orienteering program at MCS, which began two years ago with the help of Diane Bibby in Physical Education. Students at all grade levels have the opportunity to learn map (and in the upper grades, compass) skills through orienteering - finding their way around a designated course, either on the playground or in the Nature Area, using a highly detailed orienteering map. Orienteering is also offered as an elective for the 5th and 6th graders.
The LEEEP emphasis is hands-on learning and environmental stewardship, in the outdoors.
