Chip Trips

Even though we had some flurries this week (Yes, in April) and winter certainly makes surprise appearances throughout the year, it appears that spring has officially sprung.

While birds and insects are working hard setting up shop for the season and the plants are busy bursting buds and blooming to beauty, my students are keeping busy as well.

Spring is a time of rebirth, a time of waking up, and for my class, a time of. . . .manual labor.

You see, throughout the season, we’ve worked to instill that our outdoor classroom is a privilege and a responsibility. Since we use it on a daily basis, we need to do our best to protect and preserve its natural integrity. We pull invasives, plant natives, clean up trash, and spread awareness of the joy and necessity of time in nature. But we also engage in some essential, if not mundane, activities.

Like chip trips.

In an assembly line fashion, we fil up containers of wood chips and trek to portions of the trail needing some assistance from the winter thaw. To help minimize trail erosion, eliminate mud traps, and get a bit of exercise, we instill the power of service and stewardship.

It’s our trail, We should take care of it.

This week, as we celebrated Earth Day, the kids reiterated that this is our world and we should take care of it but connecting it to our trail work. If that doesn’t supersede any curricular connection and prove the value of what we do, I don’t know what will.