Reflections from a Teacher: A Springtime Externship
This spring, Wildlands Trust hosted Julia Whalen, a science teacher at Carver Middle High School, for an externship. We asked Julia to reflect on her experience, and here’s what she had to say.
Julia participated in a birdhouse building workshop at the Stewardship Training Center in March.
Despite being someone who has lived on the South Shore all of my life and visited several Wildlands Trust properties, I had no idea how much Wildlands Trust does to preserve local ecosystems, engage with the community, and provide people with free access to explore nature. Through a recent teacher “externship” (similar to an internship, but more observational and for a shorter amount of time), I was able to learn more about Wildlands Trust and bring back meaningful experiences to my classroom.
I recently finished my 6th year as a science teacher in Carver. Despite being a smaller district compared to neighboring towns, Carver Middle High School does a lot to provide opportunities for its students. One of the ways we achieve that is through the Carver Pathways Program. I am one of the teachers involved with the Environmental & Agricultural Sciences Pathway, which is designated as an Innovation Career Pathway by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The focus of these programs is to provide students with relevant skills and coursework pertaining to a high-demand industry, which will hopefully lead to them pursuing a career or college degree in that field.
This year, our school received a grant for Innovation Career Pathway teachers to complete on-site externships with local business partners to bridge the gap between education and industry and to establish future internship opportunities for seniors in our Pathway.
Starting in March, I attended my first externship activity: a birdhouse building workshop with Brockton teachers, hosted by Wildlands Trust and Manomet Conservation Sciences. That same week, I attended a Winter Trees Identification Hike held at Tucker Preserve in Pembroke. Both of these experiences were a great way for me to get a glimpse of some of the programs that Wildlands Trust has to offer.
Julia represented Wildlands Trust at Give a Hoot About the Park at D.W. Field Park in May.
In early April, I completed both the Hike Leader and Ambassador trainings so that I could begin engaging with the community. Throughout the spring, I helped run the Wildlands Trust outreach table as an ambassador at the Plymouth Herring Run Festival, Give a Hoot About the Park at D.W. Field Park in Brockton, and the West Bridgewater River Walk. As an educator, these experiences were especially exciting to me because I was teaching people of all ages about the mission of Wildlands Trust, as well as the ways that folks can get outside or get involved. These events allowed me to network within Wildlands Trust, but also with other organizations like Mass Audubon.
In late May, I completed my Hike Leader Certification by leading my own hike at the Tucker Preserve in Pembroke. It was a beautiful day to hike the approximately 4-mile trail along the Indian Head River. Our school has a system of trails in the woods nearby, so I’ve found my hike leader training with Wildlands Trust to be valuable when it comes to taking my students outdoors. I feel better equipped to lead my students on hikes to collect data out in the forest.
The final aspect of my externship involved staff interviews that I conducted over the course of my time at Wildlands Trust. I was able to meet with the following departments: Land Protection, Stewardship, Development & Communications, GIS, and Senior Leadership. In each of these interviews, I gained insights on what these staff members do, how they got to where they are today, what skills they find valuable in potential student interns, and what advice they have for high school students looking to go into the environmental field. I will be using everything I’ve learned to help guide instruction in my Principles of Ecology class this fall. Through my externship, I’ve even come up with some projects I’d like to do in that class: certifying both of the vernal pools we have on our school grounds, marking the trails we have behind the school, and creating a map of the trail system.
Julia completed her Hike Leader Certification at Tucker Preserve in Pembroke in May.
Though my time at Wildlands Trust only spanned about 3 months, I had such a great experience, met so many wonderful people, and gained valuable knowledge that I will bring with me back to my classroom. I look forward to continuing a partnership between Carver Middle High School and Wildlands Trust, and hope that we’ll see one of our seniors start an internship there in the next few years. Having completed this experience, I’ve had the chance to see all of the different skills and knowledge that our students could gain from interning at Wildlands Trust. It’s a fantastic local organization filled with people who truly care about making the world a better place through stewardship, community engagement, and education.