Update: Enjoy a Rural Nature Walk/Students, Teachers Take it Outside

Here we are, the 19th of August, and the sunflowers are in full bloom, leaning their golden faces toward the rising sun. I never get tired of the summer flowers. I hope you too are enjoying their grace and beauty.

CCHS Summer Environmental Studies

We are just weeks away from the beginning of another school year, yet it appears there is a group of high school students who have yet to put down the books since the last school bell rang in June. Some kids have an insatiable appetite for learning. Fortunately for them, biology teachers Priscilla Guiney and Nora Murphy are happy to feed that academic hunger during the school break.

Priscilla and Nora coordinate the school’s Environmental Field Studies Group. Students volunteer to map invasive plant species on the CCHS campus, using GPS. The group also works with Concord resident Jeff Collins of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, to develop a system being used by the Sudbury-Assabet-Concord Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (SuAsCo CISMA). The students contribute data to the regional database, which assists campus plant management with decision making.  

The program is ongoing and will meet after school on Fridays during the school year. Lessons have ranged from identifying invasive plants, identifying birds, tracking woodland animals, sketching nature, studying Thoreau’s journals and helping to restore the once abundant population of the Blanding’s turtle, to Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Despite not receiving academic credit for their efforts, the students keep a website, learn about the sustainability of long-term ecological balance and attend lectures on intriguing and critical ecological issues, given by their teachers, and sometimes, affiliated groups around the state.

The group was started three years ago by Priscilla and Nora, along with Michael Goodwin, a history and English teacher. It is somewhat of a spin-off of the student environmental groups associated with the Gulf of Maine Institute, a regional program that teaches students ecological research skills, while fostering civic engagement.

The Concord course also embraces Bronson Alcott and Henry David Thoreau's philosophy of teaching outdoors. The group can often be seen examining the botony at the , and birding near.

Grants from the Concord Education Fund, The Concord-Carlisle High School Parents Grant Program and the Concord Carlisle Community Chest fund the purchase of equipment and supplies, such as natural history guidebooks and other needed items. Funding is also provided by CCHS and the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District.

Check out the impressive student-maintained website by clicking here. Perhaps it will provide you some ideas and inspire you and your children to assist in the effort to save our environment and preserve our natural resources.

Seeking the Wildlife in Great Meadows

Friday, end of the week — we made it. Now, we can look forward to a great weekend and hope that the weather brings us plenty of sunshine, so we can get out and enjoy a healthy stroll through Great Meadows. 

Tomorrow morning, our very own naturalist, Cherrie Corey, will lead another glorious walk around Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Cherrie, who is also a photographer and has a phenomenal portfolio including scenes of our local nature, calls these monthly walks, Sense of Place. On the two-hour walk, you will listen to crickets, cicadas and take in views of flowering spires, dragonflies and blackbirds, along with some unexpected surprises. How can you not have a good time?

If you want to join in on this pleasant adventure, plan to meet Cherrie et alia at 9 a.m. at the Great Meadows parking lot, using Concord Unit Entrance Road off Monsen Road from Rte. 62/Bedford St. There is no need to register or a charge, though a $5 donation is most reasonable and highly appreciated. The program is co-sponsored by the Musketaquid Arts and Environment and Friends of the Assabet River NWR. Please contact Cherrie at cherrie.corey@verizon.net or (978)760-1933 for any questions or requests.

Open House at Elm Brook

Don’t forget about the Open House, hosted by the Town of Concord, tomorrow, Saturday, from 10 a.m. to noon. A single-family home, categorized as a “moderate affordable unit,” is for sale at 87 Elm Brook Lane. This provides you and other prospective buyers a chance to view the inside. It’s a remarkable home and a great opportunity. Good luck!

Do you have something to share? Contact me at mcb23@comcast.net or Stefanie at stefanieac@comcast.net and we will be happy to help you spread the good news.