Conscious Choice: The Little Environmentalists Among Us

September 2003

The Little Environmentalists Among Us

Envision your children being schooled like this

by Claudia M. Lenart

It’s a bright afternoon when Prairie Crossing Charter School 2nd graders head out for a short hike from school to the Oak Openings, a nature preserve, to learn about undesirable immigrants — thistle, burdock and garlic mustard.

Their destination is a field of garlic mustard, where they will rip out the plants, roots and all. Along the way, Steve Barg, executive director of the Liberty Prairie Conservancy, leads them in a game of camouflage. They are rabbits and he is the coyote; the winners are those who remain perfectly still while the predator is on the prowl.

Later, they see a killdeer guarding her chicks, a field of delicate shooting stars and other native plants — bergamot, starry Solomon seal and Jack in the pulpit. They hear the call of an Indigo bunting, but, unfortunately, the bird’s electric blue presence is hidden in the trees.

The kids pull out a large pile of garlic mustard that is strangling other plants. Barg says, "You’re helping not just the plants survive but you help the animals that depend on them."

Before hiking back to school, they are instructed to find a magic spot in the preserve and are asked to sit in silence and stillness. "Use your senses and feel what this place is really like," instructs Barg.

This was a special day at Prairie Crossing Charter School in north suburban Grayslake, with its focus on environmental education fieldwork. However, at this charter school, the motto is "environmental education, all day, every day."

Prairie Crossing Charter School opened its doors in the fall of 1999. From the beginning, it was structured as a school with a focus on environmental education. Its home is in the heart of Prairie Crossing, a conservation community that includes native prairie, an oak savannah, wetlands and an organic farm.

A group of Prairie Crossing residents, together with developer Vickey Ranney, fought opposition from the local school boards to charter the school. "We thought it was a great idea to have a school that takes advantage of the open land and uses it as a way to offer experiences and for kids to ask all the kinds of questions they naturally have when they’re outside seeing, feeling, running, and smelling," says Ranney.

According to Illinois state law, schools must be chartered by the local school district. Prairie Crossing is split between two districts, Woodland and Fremont. Both districts rejected a plea for a charter. However, school founders appealed to the State Board of Education, which granted a charter. By 2005, the school will have all eight grades and 360 students. Students from both the Woodland and Fremont school districts are eligible, but they are chosen by lottery.

The Charter School follows an inter-disciplinary approach to learning, heavily infused with nature studies. For instance, children learning about early American history will visit a restored prairie to understand the pioneer experience. They’ll make graphs of the remaining virgin prairies as a math project. Their science studies will look at ecosystems and in the arts, they will listen to Colonial music.

While the Charter School has had impressive scholastic success — ranking in the top 10 of Illinois schools based on state assessment tests, it is still a work in progress. Last year, the school board brought the Prairie Crossing Institute, part of the non-profit Liberty Prairie Conservancy, to work with students and teachers and thereby intensify the environmental focus.

Last year, Barg started working with teachers as they put together their curriculums, and working with students from kindergarten to fifth grade. One of the units Barg devised for fourth and fifth graders centered on the Lewis & Clark expedition. The unit culminated in a winter day trip to the Oak Openings, where the children learned survival skills — starting a fire, building a shelter and finding food and water.

"Majoring" in Ecosystems

Environmental awareness is part of daily life at Prairie Crossing Charter School. Children must be comfortable in nature if they are to grow up loving it and caring for it. Therefore, students go outside for recess regardless of season, in an environment where opportunities to absorb nature abound. They also practice recycling and reuse at school — lunch is brought in reusable containers.

The goal is for eighth graders to leave the school as environmental stewards for life, says Kathy Johnston, who served as principal of the school for the first four years.

The school will begin a new cycle this year as it expands to sixth grade with a new leader, recently hired director, Linda Brazdil. Brazdil previously served as the coordinator of the Bridges to Learning Science Literacy Program for the Illinois Math and Science Academy. Brazdil says she plans to make more use of the organic farm and the prairie as a classroom. "I’d like them to have such a strong background in the prairie that they can use it as a frame of reference for other ecosystems," she said.

Brazdil also plans to start environmental service projects for children starting in sixth grade, so they learn in practical terms how to be an environmental steward. "They’re not just going to say‘we need to save the rainforest.’ It’s important that they really understand enough about the environment to make sound decisions and to know how to go about it," says Brazdil.

While the Prairie Crossing Charter School is the only school that states environmental education as its mission, there are other schools that nurture deep connections with nature. Waldorf Schools and biodynamics sprouted from the mind of the same person in the early part of the 20th century, Rudolf Steiner, so it’s no surprise that Waldorf schools have an organic, natural focus. The message of reverence for nature, and an understanding of man’s connection to Earth are pervasive in Waldorf schools. "We don’t teach environmental education per se, but there is a conscious cultivation from early childhood on," says Colleen Everhart, Chicago Waldorf High School chairperson and drama teacher.

In the Waldorf early childhood classroom, children are immersed in creative play with wooden toys, pinecones, rocks, silks, beeswax crayons, and homemade stuffed animals and dolls. The crafts, songs, and stories reflect the changing seasons. Children delve into first-hand experience of the seasons though daily outdoor play. Organic food is served at snack time and afterwards, children compost the leftovers and wash their own dishes. "What’s cultivated is a real reverence, love, and appreciation of the natural world," says Everhart.

At Chicago Waldorf, farming is a major block in third grade and students take a trip to a biodynamic farm in East Troy, Wisconsin. They come to understand farming as a community where the farmer, plants and animals work together.

Throughout the grades, Waldorf students are taught how the subjects they are learning relate to human beings. "It’s very ecological. We’re not studying subjects separate from human beings. We impact the world and the world impacts us," says Everhart.

High school students at Chicago Waldorf participate in yearly service trips that concentrate on farming and community. In 9th grade, they go to the Philadelphia Community Farm in northern Wisconsin, where they work with a Community Supported Agriculture organization. They harvest, plant and learn about biodynamics, as they work alongside developmentally disabled adults. "It’s a way for students to learn about sustainable agriculture. We try to cook as many meals as possible with food from the farm. It’s an amazing experience, especially for students who grew up in the city, to see where their food comes from," says Everhart.

The 10th grade trip is usually to a farm as well. However, this year students traveled to Taos, New Mexico to build "earth ships," sustainable homes made of recycled materials.

In 11th grade, they travel to the Kimberton Camphill Community in Pennsylvania to work as part of the community for developmentally disabled adults. Students may work in the bakery, weavery, bike shop, woodshop or gardens.

The 12th grade trip is usually outside the country, this year to Pueblo, Mexico to remodel a wing of a home for developmentally disabled adults. "By the time they’re in 12th grade, they feel like a human steward of the environmental world...Our students are very interested in recycling, oil consumption, and walking lightly on the Earth," says Everhart.

Other Waldorf schools in the area include Four Winds School in Warrenville, Great Oaks School in Evanston, Singing Hills School in Oak Park and Waters Edge School in Wauconda.

3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

While not as intense of an experience in environmental education, the McHenry County School Environmental Education Program (MCSEEP) is a broad and worthwhile effort involving 90 percent of public and private schools in the county. The effort brings environmental programs to students as well as summer intensive learning for teachers.

The program was started in 1989 by a teacher who thought children needed to learn the three Rs — reduce, reuse and recycle. But the nature of the program quickly expanded. "You talk about solid waste, but everything is connected, so then you have to talk about energy use, natural resources, and groundwater supplies," says Barbara Tipton, coordinator of the program.

Four part-time teachers bring fun, high-energy programs to the schools. Kindergarteners are introduced to a hand puppet, Rita Recycle, who talks about the garbage problem. In the early grades, the teachers put on plays about recycling, composting and natural resources. The fifth grade unit centers around the Native Americans and how one can live more lightly on the Earth. The sixth grade unit is called the Passion for Possessions and teaches students about the impact of our consumer culture. "We’re up against a culture that does not have a real environmental ethic; we have a consumer ethic...What we do helps kids make connections with the way we live our lives and how it has a direct impact on this wonderful, irreplaceable planet," says Tipton.

The seventh grade concentrates on global climate change and eighth graders study groundwater issues. While, the environmental program is brought to students just once a year, Tipton believes it has an impact. The students remember programs from previous years and look forward to the yearly event. "It’s important that teachers do follow-up to strengthen what we do," she adds.

This summer marked four years since MCSEEP started offering continuing education for teachers. Programs included restoration ecology, encouraging teachers to involve students in restoration projects and "Earth Tales," showing how to teach ecology through stories, theater and shadow play. "Until people fall in love with the Earth," says Tipton, "they’re not going to care about it. The stories appeal to the emotions."

Claudia M. Lenart is a freelance writer and editor living in Antioch, IL. She is editor of Family Time, a parenting magazine in Lake County, IL.

Contacts Mentioned in this Story

Prairie Crossing Charter School

Janet Allison, Principal Consultant for Charter School Organization, Illinois State Board of Education, 217-782-0083

Chicago Waldorf School, 773-465-2662

Four Winds School, Warrenville, IL, 630-836-9400

Great Oaks School, Skokie, IL, 847-329-9980

Singing Hills School, Oak Park, IL, 708-386-1600

Waters Edge School, Wauconda, IL, 847-526-1372

McHenry County Schools Environmental Education Program

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