Dr. M Jackson inspires middle school girls with the power of science.
Well, it’s that time of year again, the time of year where mud clings to boots (and dogs) on every foray outside, the silence of winter is broken by the return of birds, and the red tips of maple trees look like signal flares foretelling change we all feel in our bones. Spring is coming friends, and with it a few updates from your friendly neighborhood K-12 Science Coordinator.
In February we were able to bring National Geographic Explorer, TED Fellow, and Netflix docudrama actor Dr. M Jackson to three schools in both auditorium and small group/classroom presentations for a talk about glaciers and the life of an adventure scientist. Jackson is a geographer, glaciologist and science communicator. From stories of her life growing up in rural Alaska and Washington state to harrowing tales of life on the ice (including falling into a water filled crevasse in Alaska) to advice on how to create a TED talk, she was able to interact with and inspire hundreds of students throughout the day.
TED Fellow Dr. M Jackson instructs 7th graders about the in’s and out’s of TED speaking for their upcoming TED Talk assignment.
Next, this April, to celebrate good ol’ Mother Earth, the fair planet to which we all owe our very existence, we have something really cool planned. Dan Kinzer, another National Geographic buddy, is coming to town. Dan has been working with students on six continents (and has been to all seven) for over twenty years, and when he’s not out in the Pacific on the Hokulea (think the big boat in Moana), a surfboard, or Dr. Bob Ballard’s ship, he’s exploring planet Earth. So, how is Dan helping SPS? Well, over the course of Earth Week we are going to be working on the concept of deepening students’ relationship with the place they live, because, well, planet Earth is pretty amazing (I mean, just look at the Grand Canyon for Pete’s sake…outrageous) and Suffield, though understated, is a pretty incredible place to be a kid.
To highlight this amazing awesomeness, we’ll be sending out Google Forms to all 3rd-12th graders asking them what they think is amazing about their hometown. It could be that special oak tree in their yard, or a pond they fish in, the sandpit they ride their quad in (which I did a lot of as a whipper snapper myself), or the view from the Metacomet Trail in West Suffield. We’re encouraging them to talk with their families too, because by making the project intergenerational, we can tie a thread to the shared experience we all have of living in this beautiful town and connect kids with not only the place they know, but to the place their family knows as well. We’ll narrow the results of these submissions and over the course of the week, we’ll head out to explore some of these spots with crews of kids we’re calling Earth Week Ambassadors. Along the way we’ll work together to create a story of Suffield to be shared with schools. It’ll be both classic, and futuristic (Dan’s an expert at creating Extended Reality (XR) worlds and just returned from Australia where he was doing work with an Aboriginal community), and we’re looking forward to the adventure.
AND – right on the heels of this event will be the second annual Ecology Explorers program on May 21-22. Similar to last year’s event, we’ll host 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 10th graders at Suffield Land Conservancy’s McLean Outdoor Education Preserve for a day of learning about everything from insects to vernal pools to how to de-stress in nature. We’re a couple of volunteers short though, so if you know anyone who loves nature, kids, and has something to share, get in touch with me at jkaput@suffield.org.
There’s more to say, but I’m over my word limit. In keeping with the message of being thankful for this beautiful town, go explore a little. And take a little one with you. I bet it’ll be worth it.