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Exploring
the Habitats of Lowell and
Stewardship Through Leadership:
Backyard Adventures! after school programs
'Where Earth Day is everyday!'
Playing in the Leaves at Citizen Schools (L) & Cedar
Waxing, Downtown Lowell (R)
The
Trust has partnered with Mass Audubon Society
- Drumlin Farm (MAS) to offer an after-school
program for Lowell youth, called Backyard Adventures!
LP&CT Project Specialist, Brian Cutler
and MAS Teacher-Naturalist, Sally Farrow team
up to share their joys and knowledge of the outdoor
world.
Our goal is to expose urban youth to the outdoor
classroom where they will build upon their in-school
curricula, become engaged in constructive environmental
stewardship in their community, and build self-esteem
through team and leadership opportunities.
The city of Lowell is home to a multitude of natural
resources, ecosytems and geological features,
which are the subjects of our studies. Please
take a look at the program handbook to find out
more about our studies of Lowell's natural side
and environmental history.
Click Here for the Program Handbook. |
'THANK YOU!'
It
is with great appreciation that we thank the Women Working
Wonders Fund,
who selects one organization each year to receive $5,000.
The Trust received
this award Spring 2007 for our work with Girls Incoporated.
See the Women Working Wonders Fund on the
Greater Lowell Community Foundation Web Site.
Click
Here
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Backyard
Adventures! Highlights
Regular
Backyard Adventures programming will reconvene
in the fall 2008. Meanwhile we are piloting
stewardship programming with high school age
youth from Spindle City Corps through various
action projects around Lowell.
We are very proud of our students and all of
their accomplishements throughout the school
year 2007-2008.
Highlights from this year include visits from
Mass Audubons program animals, tree and flower
plantings, pulling samples and collecting data
from the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, hikes
in the Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro State Forest,
and tours of the historic Spalding House and
Alcott Cemetery.
Spindle City Corps and Groundwork Lawrence
Following their
clean-up project along the Concord River Greenway,
youth from SCC and GWL's Green Team received
a visit from MAS's kestrel during a discussion
about raptors and urban ecology in Lowell. Kestrels
are small falcons, related to the perigrine
falcon, which was observed earlier this year
nesting atop UML's Fox Hall (as shown above).
Bartlett Community
Partnership School,
UMass Lowell After School Program
Bartlett students visited
the banks of the Merrimack River to conduct
a study of water quality and freshwater wildlife
species (L). Here they are holding a juvenile
bluegill. They also spotted a grey squirrel
(R) making a daring leap to a tree during a
recent urban
hike.
Dr. An Wang Middle School, Citizen
Schools Apprenticeship Program
Apprentices at the Wang School
made a routine stewardship visits to their "adopted
maple tree", which they monitored throughout
the semester (L). And displaying the first insect
(beetle) we found this spring in the state forest
(R).
Girls Incorporated of Greater
Lowell,
SMART Classes (Science, Math, and Relevant Technology)
During
a nature-scavenger hunt at Whistler Park across
the street from Girls Inc, the girls explored
the habitats of invertbrates (decomposers) and
how they benefit the gardens and forests alike.
(L) Mass Audubon's "Jasmine the Rabbit"
paid a visit to the girls when we discussed
mammal habitats. (R)
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Urban
Forestry!
Amazing
Job to the Fall
2007 Citizen Schools
Apprentices at the Robinson Middle School Campus!
During the Fall 2007 semester our students learned,
lived, and taught about what it means to be backyard
naturalists in their community. Our focus was,
"Habitats Created by Trees!" During
semester follow-up presetations at what is known
as the WOW! Fair, students presented their skills
and knowledge to their peers and members of the
community. The Backyard Adventures! presentation
was based on a tree planting project in Robinson
School yard. Originally their idea was to plant
only a handful of trees, but when their voices
were heard by local community members and organizations
it sparked a tree planting frenzy resulting in
the planting of thirty-nine red maple trees surrounding
the adjacent playing fields.
CLICK
HERE to view the slide show presentation,
as displayed during the Citizen Schools WOW! Fair
at the
Robinson Middle School.
Tree Planting Success at Sunset
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Many thanks to our funders the Baldwin
Foundation, and, the
Women Working Wonders Fund.
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