Martha Polichette’s second-grade class at Park City Day School sat in a circle in the gymnasium Wednesday, May 14, with Teton Science School instructors Hannah Leigh and Peggie dePasquale discussing how cars and buildings affect wildlife and their habitats.
“They are trying to get the students to see what it would be like if they signed up for their summer camp here at the school,” Polichette said. “They were here last year, and every time I pulled up, they were running around in the field behind the school. The kids had so much fun.”
Teton Science Schools is based in Jackson, Wyoming and focuses on outdoor education. Melanie Pickens, academic dean and lower school director, said it is a hands-on, science-based program hosted at the Park City Day School facilities.
“They go outside, go on field trips, get down and dirty and have a great time doing that,” Pickens said. “We’ve actually been to Teton in the past on school field trips, so we’re familiar with their program. It’s similar to what we offer here through our outdoor education program, so it’s a great tie-in.”
Selena Humphreys, the Teton Science School coordinator, said there is room for 39 students in the program. It is not only for Park City Day School students but for any in the community entering grades 1-6.
The instructors are Americorps volunteers that are taught hands-on ecology and geology games to play with the summer camp participants outside on the playground, in the field behind the school or nearby at Pinebrook Park.
“We aren’t the experts in any town we go to, but we meet with partners like Wildlife, Fish and Game and Park Service people to go out and learn about the area,” Humphreys said. “We’ll go to Swaner Preserve and meet with naturalists there who will take us on a tour of their area, or we’ll go to a reservoir and meet with a U.S. Geological Survey researcher who will tell us how water is conserved in their area.”
Humphreys, Leigh, dePasquale and other Teton Science School faculty visited not only Park City Day School but also Parley’s Park Elementary and Soaring Wings Montessori School. Humphreys said they want to build partnerships with the schools in the area in order to offer more summer camp-like programs for students throughout the town.
Teton Science Schools set up a table in front of Park City Day School with informative brochures and flyers as well as “specimens,” including a moose antler, pronghorn leg and fox skin for children to touch and ask questions about.
A young boy and girl, students at the school, approached the table and asked about the moose leg. Humphreys told them to guess what kind of leg it was, and when the boy guessed it was a horse leg, she said it was as big as a horse but it was wild. He guessed moose, and she congratulated him for guessing correctly by offering a touch of the moose antler on the other side of the table.
“They love to pet [the specimens] and ask questions, and that’s what we do,” Humphreys said. “Science is all about asking and answering questions.”
For more information about Teton Science Schools, visit www.tetonscience.org. To register for a spot in the Teton Science Summer Camp program or learn about the other summer activities Park City Day School has to offer for all students in the community, visit www.parkcitydayschool.org/Curriculum/AfterschoolSummerPrograms/Summer2014/tabid/206/Default.aspx.