Featured Story
Farm Field Trip Offers Innovative Educational Experience
From 9th Grade Deans Abby Bielski and John Higgins:
During our two-day 9th grade field trip to The Farm at Holmes last week, our students exemplified our school motto Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve. Students built a new pig pen, cleaned the old pig pen, constructed a solar shed, and harvested/prepared food for our group (more than 80 people total). As a result of their hard work, each student has earned eight hours of community service. A 9th grade student shared, “One new thing I learned was how to build a solar shed. I love to build things, but this was the first time I got to build something like this.”
While working alongside the farm volunteers, students discussed the importance of consuming locally sourced food and knowing where our food comes from. Ethical food practices and becoming better stewards of the environment permeated our conversations at the dinner table. A 9th grader commented, “I feel like I learned a lot about sustainability and how nothing goes to waste. The scraps can always be used for something whether it be food for the animals or a compost to make rich soil to grow crops.” These ninth graders took great pride in the shared experience of local food preparation (e.g., one group harvested the beans, another group used them to make our chili).
Students relished the opportunity to be outside of the typical classroom environment. Not only in setting but also in instruction. Teachers took a step back from their role as ‘instructor’ as farm volunteers guided students. While farm volunteers organized and explained tasks, implementation and execution was largely left up to the students. This meant students needed to step into leadership roles and communicate with one another to complete their tasks successfully.
This field trip both strengthened the existing 9th grade identity and fully incorporated new students into the ‘fingerprint’ of the SLS Class of 2019. It was an unforgettable, innovative educational experience for all of us.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 40 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Leading with Humanity curriculum builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
