What’s New at Wildlands
Brockton Elementary School Receives Outdoor Classroom
By Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator
Update (9/6/2023): The outdoor classroom is officially complete! Thank you to all who helped us with this project, including students and families from the George School who came out to volunteer on August 16. See the gallery at the bottom of this page for new photos.
If you're anything like the Wildlands staff, your fondest childhood memories might revolve around the shortest part of the school day—recess. Fresh air, green grass, and warm sunlight kindled moments of profound joy and discovery. Yet when classes resumed minutes later, your window for natural exploration would close, as quickly as it had opened. Why cut this formative period short?
A deluge of new research confirms what we’ve intuitively known to be true since we were schoolchildren ourselves, pleading with our teachers to hold class outside on a beautiful spring morning—that learning is best when it’s done outdoors. From mental and physical health to social behavior and academic performance, hundreds of studies highlight the benefits of nature-based classrooms to the well-being of students and teachers alike.
The promise of outdoor learning peaks in urban neighborhoods, where a lack of green space has historically excluded low-income, racially diverse communities from the public health benefits of access to nature.
This summer, Wildlands Trust and our partners started to address this need in the largest Environmental Justice community we serve. Our staff and volunteers have been hard at work building an outdoor learning space at the Manthala George Jr. Global Studies Elementary School in Brockton. Centered on the George School’s community garden, the outdoor classroom will include five recycled-plastic picnic tables in front of a foldable whiteboard, as well as a woodland sitting circle, a weather station kiosk, and an interchangeable story walk.
Green Team weatherproofs tree stump stools for a woodland sitting circle at the George School in Brockton.
The construction effort was spearheaded by the Green Team, a joint initiative between Wildlands Trust and Manomet that pays Brockton-area teens to advance environmental stewardship in their home city, all while building knowledge, skills, and professional connections in the conservation field. Over two Tuesdays in July, the Green Team visited the George School to restore the community garden beds, install gutters for rain barrels, weatherproof tree stump stools for the sitting area, and level a pathway to the learning space. On Tuesday, August 15, teachers and students from the George School will volunteer to add finishing touches to the outdoor classroom, including by planting a native pollinator garden and filling the garden beds with organic soil for students to plant seeds in next spring. The learning area will be ready for the school community to enjoy when classes resume in the fall.
The work is part of Brockton Kids Lead the Way, an initiative developed by Dr. Molly Jacobs of Manomet and supported by Wildlands Trust and Brockton Public Schools that strives to foster city students' connection to nature. Two more outdoor classrooms will come to Brockton elementary schools by 2025 as part of this NOAA-funded initiative. The next project site is Hancock Elementary School, where Wildlands and Manomet will spend the upcoming school year gathering input from teachers and students before building an outdoor learning space in summer 2024.
Stay tuned for updates as our work continues this summer and beyond!
Click through the slideshow below to view more photos from the George School outdoor classroom project.
Meet Wildlands Trust's Seasonal Staff!
By Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator
Every summer, the Wildlands family gets a bit bigger. Seasonal Land Stewards join our ranks to support the stewardship team during the busiest part of the year. This season, a college intern is also providing her services to the Trust. Read on to learn more about these new faces at Wildlands.
Seasonal Land Stewards
Caleb Griffin
Caleb joins our stewardship team this summer from Cape Cod Community College, where he studied environmental science. He will continue his studies this fall at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Caleb grew up hiking and mountain biking in Bourne. He is excited to hone his trail-building skills with Wildlands.
Tyler Williams
Tyler returns to Wildlands for his second summer as a Seasonal Land Steward. He graduated from UMass Boston this spring with a degree in environmental science. In his free time, Tyler enjoys camping in the woods, relaxing on the beach, and watching nature documentaries. The Norton native is eager to advance Wildlands’ mission of protecting land and wildlife this summer.
Marina Smiarowski
Marina rounds out our seasonal stewardship staff. She graduated from high school this spring and will attend the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in the fall. Engaging with the trails and programs of her local land trust while growing up in southern Connecticut left Marina eager to learn more about the inner workings of a land conservation organization. Marina recently interned with the Stewart B. McKinney US Fish & Wildlife Service unit in Connecticut.
Intern
Maddie Luongo
Maddie is a rising senior at Wheaton College, where she is majoring in English and minoring in environmental studies and philosophy. At Wildlands, Maddie will work closely with the programming department to support the D.W. Field Park Initiative and Brockton Green Team. “Having grown up in Plymouth, I’ve been able to see firsthand the effect that an organization like Wildlands has on the surrounding community, and how it has fundamentally changed the way people regard their surroundings,” Maddie says. “I am glad to now have the opportunity to have some part in that.” After graduating next spring, Maddie hopes to pursue a career in environmental writing. In her free time, she enjoys reading and writing outside and playing folk music with friends. She plays the flute, penny whistle, and “whatever other small wind instrument the song calls for!”
Thank you all for the work you have already done and will continue to do this summer! We are ecstatic to have you aboard!
Seasonal Land Stewards Hone Skills at STC
By Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator
Late last month, our burgeoning Stewardship Training Center (STC) reached a major milestone in its mission to build land stewardship capacity across the state.
On June 26 and 27, Wildlands Trust hosted its first Seasonal Land Steward Training at the STC. Ten trainees, each holding a land stewardship role this summer with a city, town, or environmental nonprofit, converged on the STC from across Massachusetts to gain invaluable conservation skills and expand their professional network. The program, reviewed positively by participants, marks the first in hopefully a long line of initiatives at the STC to support the sustained care of conservation lands, especially during peak periods of human use.
“I am extremely excited to have had the opportunity to bring this group of seasonals together,” said Wildlands Stewardship Coordinator Zoë Smiarowski. “I think all of the participants worked extremely well collaboratively and learned from each other and the instructors in the most positive way.”
The training began bright and early on Monday morning with a group hike and trail maintenance workshop at our Halfway Pond Conservation Area, the setting of the STC. Leading the workshop were Mary Doucette of the Buzzards Bay Coalition and Colleen Andrews of Mattapoisett Land Trust. Around midday, Mary and Colleen were joined by Zoë to teach trainees how to care for stewardship tools. After lunch, trainees honed their invasive plant identification and removal skills through a presentation and hike led by Kelly Barber of Barnstable Land Trust.
Kelly Barber of Barnstable Land Trust leads an invasive plant identification walk.
On Tuesday, Chris Crowther of Certified Rescue Courses trained program participants in first aid and CPR. Trainees then learned to build wooden benches during a carpentry workshop led by Wildlands staff. Finally, Nate Cristofori and Michael Cahill of the Plymouth Department of Marine and Environmental Affairs presented to the group about interacting with the public on conservation land.
“I look forward to continued and new collaborations with the wide range of talented conservation professionals and volunteers in the region,” Zoë said about the STC. “I feel extremely fortunate to be a part of the community here in Southeastern Massachusetts and I'm excited to see all the creative projects that come together for the betterment of our lands and waters.”
Thank you to all who attended our program, and to the guest instructors for providing their passion and expertise! Wildlands Trust looks forward to working with these and new partners as the STC marches forward in its first full year of operation.
To learn more about the STC and browse upcoming events, visit our Training page.
Click through the gallery below to view more photos from the 2023 Seasonal Land Steward Training.
Resources: Advancing Racial Equity in Southeastern MA and Beyond
On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, legally freeing millions of enslaved African Americans in Confederate states. It wasn’t until June 19, 1865, however, that African Americans in Texas were truly freed. Though declared a federal holiday only in 2021, Juneteenth has been celebrated in certain Black communities for more than 150 years to celebrate the effective end of slavery in the United States.
In honor of Juneteenth, the Wildlands Trust staff compiled a preliminary list of resources, businesses, and partners that residents of our service region and beyond can access and support to better understand and advance racial equity, especially in the natural spaces we cherish. This list is far from exhaustive and will be updated as new resources emerge and partnerships arise.
Suggestions for our list? Tell us in the comments at the end of this article!
Black-owned businesses
Brockton Beer Company | 121 Main Street, Brockton, MA
Support Brockton Beer Company for great food, drinks, programs, and people. Per their website: “Brockton Beer Company is proud to be the 6th Black-owned brewery in Massachusetts and is also proud to identify as Asian-owned and classified as a minority-owned business.” Brockton Beer Company has been a faithful supporter of our D.W. Field Park Initiative. Wildlands Trust was proud to sponsor their recent one-year anniversary festival.
Affinity groups and community non-profits
According to their website, “the launch of the Conservationists of Color affinity group was a grassroots and organic response to the lack of spaces for practitioners of color within the land conservation movement.” Explore their own resources page here.
Books and articles
Black Spaces, White Faces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors by Carolyn Finney
According to her website, “Carolyn Finney, PhD is a storyteller, author and a cultural geographer who is deeply interested in issues related to identity, difference, creativity, and resilience. The aim of her work is to develop greater cultural competency within environmental organizations and institutions, challenge media outlets on their representation of difference, and increase awareness of how privilege shapes who gets to speak to environmental issues and determine policy and action.” Carolyn currently serves as an artist-in-residence in the Franklin Environmental Center at Middlebury College in Vermont. She also delivered the keynote address at the 2021 Massachusetts Land Conservation Conference, whose theme was “Building a Stronger Land Movement through Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.”
The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham
J. Drew Lanham is an author, poet, and conservation biologist at Clemson University. In 2013, he wrote “9 Rules for the Black Birdwatcher,” which brought national attention to the struggles that Black bird lovers face in natural spaces. (Check out the video version by BirdNote here.) He expanded on these challenges in his 2016 article, “Birding While Black.”
Films
“Mardi and the Whites” by Paula Champagne (11 minutes)
Mardi Fuller loves spending time in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. But as a Black woman, imbedding herself in the region’s predominantly white recreator community presents unique challenges. In this short film, Mardi highlights the importance of racial education and awareness for white people, especially in natural spaces.
Podcasts
Always be birdin’ by Samantha DeJarnett (27 episodes)
From the podcast description: “Birds are extremely awesome. But birding can be intimidating and difficult. Always Be Birdin' aims to change the narrative of birding. How we bird, where we bird and who is birding. Join me as I go out into the field with BIPOC birding experts, novice baby birders like myself and nature enthusiasts to do some chaotic, goofy birding while dropping a knowledge bomb or two to show that no matter what, you can Always Be Birdin'.”
Social media
Alexis Nikole Nelson, a.k.a. Black Forager
TikTok: alexisnikole | Instagram: blackforager |Facebook: BlackForager | Twitter: @blackforager
If you enjoy botany, foraging, or, well, joy, check out Alexis Nikole Nelson’s work. Not a social media fan? Watch her TED Talk here.
Local Black history
Parting Ways was a Black settlement in North Plymouth, founded in 1792 by four former enslaved people who had fought in the American Revolutionary War. The 94 acres along Plympton Street were granted through an agreement with the town of Plymouth that whoever could clear the land could claim ownership of it. For an in-depth account, read this article by regional historian Benjamin Cronin.
To learn more about enslaved life in our state and region, visit the Eleven Names Project.
Peter J. Gomes (1942-2011) was an influential Black preacher and professor at Harvard University. After coming out as gay in 1991, the reverend spent the rest of his career combatting religious arguments in support of homophobia, racism, and other intolerance. Gomes grew up in Plymouth, where his father, born in the Cape Verde Islands, was a cranberry bog worker. He graduated from Plymouth High School in 1961 before attending Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Read his 1992 op-ed in the New York Times here.
Check back for updates!
Brockton High School Competes at Massachusetts Envirothon
By Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator
Brockton High School Envirothon team at the 2023 Massachusetts Envirothon.
On Thursday, May 25, nine Brockton High School students put their natural resources knowledge to the (hands-on, collaborative) test at the 2023 Massachusetts Envirothon. Congratulations to all the students for making their Brockton and Wildlands Trust communities proud!
Twenty-five teams representing 18 high schools across the state converged on Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park in Uxbridge for this year’s competition. Each team was tested in five environmental areas: Forest, Wildlife, Water, Soil, and Current Issue. This year’s current issue, Climate Change in our Community, called on each team to present about the climate stressors facing their own neighborhoods, and potential ways to reduce and adapt to them. Across two teams, the Brockton students proposed interdisciplinary solutions to rival the multifaceted climate impacts in their city. One team highlighted the potential for green roofs to address flooding risk, food insecurity, and even human conflicts with Canada Geese. The other focused on improving the gateway city’s access to local, sustainably sourced food.
Brockton High School students present about local climate impacts and solutions at the Envirothon.
Prior to the day’s events, two key figures in the Massachusetts natural resources sector addressed the students in attendance. “You are the next generation of leaders in our community,” said Brian Arrigo, commissioner of the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation. Rebecca Tepper, secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, added, “The one thing you can do [about climate change] is work in this field.”
Wildlands Trust has coached and sponsored the Brockton High School Envirothon team since 2015. Rachel Bruce, Wildlands’ Director of Special Projects, coaches the team alongside Brockton High School biology teacher Melissa Kelly and Manomet education manager Clare Cunningham.
Wildlands was particularly well represented at this year’s competition, as our president, Karen Grey, also served as a judge!
Congratulations again to the Brockton High School students on an impressive showing, including a fifth-place finish in Forestry! Additional kudos to the graduating seniors, who can now proudly say they measured water quality, estimated tree height, tested soil in a five-foot hole, and identified insect species—all on the day of their senior prom!
To learn more about Wildlands Trust’s Brockton High School Envirothon initiative, visit wildlandstrust.org/envirothon.
Click through the slideshow below to see more photos from the 2023 competition.
