Nature Program is a Hit

By: Jenny Gardynski
(jgardynski@student.stonehill.edu)

EASTON – Fifteen kindergarteners at Moreau Hall Elementary School sat attentively on the multi-colored rug as the two teachers began their program. When Monique Melcher asked the class if they knew what Sheep Pasture was, a boy shouted out, “I love that place!”
The teachers at Sheep Pasture, of the Natural Resources Trust of Easton, are busy all year long educating the youth of Easton and surrounding communities about local ecology.
The NRT of Easton is a non-profit organization that serves to educate about natural and cultural resources and to acquire and preserve land for the public’s benefit.
Recently, the teachers were at Moreau Hall Elementary School to teach four kindergarten classes about butterflies. McNamara said this is a typical day for their in-school programs.
The children learned about the five senses of a butterfly and related them to the senses of humans. Melcher put on her butterfly wings, feet, and eyes to help explain the senses to the class.
“This is a little silly, but a butterfly can actually feel noise!” Melcher said. The class giggled and shouted in response.
McNamara then taught the kids how a butterfly grows and what it does.
“Is everyone ready to turn into a butterfly?” she asked the class.
All of the children then, provided with a party horn for their proboscis (mouth), flower to eat their nectar, and large laminated leaf to sit on, acted out the process of growing into a butterfly.
“Take some nice sips of nectar from your flower,” McNamara instructed.
The children were then told that butterflies would be in their classroom in a few weeks.
It was on of several classes Sheep Pasture offers, ranging from in-school programs, field trips to the NRT at Sheep Pasture, scout programs, preschool classes, and a nature camp.
Melcher said the NRT has a contract with the Easton Public Schools yearly to provide for field trips for grades K through six so that the NRT programs are part of their curriculum.
“We personalize our programs for each grade level,” she said.
The “in-school” programs are for grades K through three during the months of January and February. Kindergarten has a butterfly program, first grade does either an egg incubation or a mammal program, second grade does either a whale or animal adaptation program, and third grade does an owl program.
The field trips at Sheep Pasture are for grades K through six and are done during the months of November, December, March, April, and May. Grades K through three are bused over and grades four through six are walked over to the NRT. These field trips, varying by grade, focus on sensory exploration, farms, habitats, predators and prey, Wampanoag culture, local geology, and orienteering.
“All of the programs focus on ecology, habitats, and anything dealing with the natural sciences,” Melcher said.
The programs are typically one to 1 ½ hours long and cost $5 to $6 per child.
“Most other NRTs are looking to conserve and acquire land and do not have the staff or buildings to have these types of programs. What we have for an area is unique,” Melcher said. “We have 154 acres to use, and we use it.”
One problem the teachers say they have is getting the students there.
“It’s hard for schools to get transportation. We are looking into getting grant money to offset the costs of people getting transportation,” Melcher said.
Melcher, who grew up in Easton and went through the programs at Sheep Pasture as a child, is in her fifth year teaching at the NRT.
McNamara, a 2007 Stonehill College graduate with a double-major in Environmental Studies and Elementary Education, is a first-year teacher at the NRT. Formerly from Seekonk, she moved to Easton when she got this position she said.
“I did student teaching. This is so much different and I really like it. This is an ideal first job for me,” McNamara said.
Moreau Hall Principal Robert Smith said the school has been participating in these programs for 18 to 20 years. He said each class has one in-class program and the opportunity for a field trip at Sheep Pasture once a year.
“They are very knowledgeable and really relate to the kids,” he said of the teachers.
Smith, a fan of all the NRT programs, said he particularly enjoys the incubation program where the students get to watch the eggs hatch. He also mentioned the owl pellets program where the students get to actually dissect the pellets.
“They’re really great programs and it’s hands-on so students get to see and feel things,” he said.