Hometown Hikes: Upper School Screen-Free Day
After 55 days of distance learning, the upper school observed a screen-free day on Monday, June 8. Students in Emillie Cushing’s seventh grade science were asked to find a trail in or near their respective home towns to hike. Bolstered by a zoom lesson with staff members from the AMC Mountain Classroom who covered mapping skills and hiking basics, students set off to explore trails across the north shore.
Throughout the year, our upper-school science program creates opportunities for students to engage in "citizen science," and seventh-graders typically spend many science class sessions outdoors in the GUS woods conducting observations and collecting data on our forest as part of our partnership with Harvard Forest Schoolyard Ecology. In a time of remote learning and distanced social interactions, this project was a great reminder to pause and appreciate the beautiful places we're lucky to call home, but also that place-based learning truly can happen anywhere - whether you are on the GUS nature trail, or off on other trails close to home!
