Madison’s school forest

Pamela Cotant:

Some seventh-grade students went on the field trip Thursday with Ropa and Cecilia Goodale, a math teacher. The two seventh-grade humanities teachers at Spring Harbor, Tiffani Lewis and Cindi Lewis, took the remaining seventh-graders to the school forest on Friday.

“Although we do a lot of these types of activities at school, where they are also effective, these tasks were unique and not being led by their teachers,” Ropa said. “It removes the fear of academic failure that’s on the minds of many and allows them to take on new leadership and teammate roles.”

Seventh-grader James Peterson said he hadn’t been on a field trip for awhile and it was nice to get outside. He also saw the importance of students getting to know each other.

“Some people here aren’t the best of friends with other people,” James said.

Teachers’ requests for outdoor programs offered by Madison School & Community Recreation in areas such as team building, paddling and environmental education have not rebounded to the level that existed before the pandemic, said Liz Just, MSCR community outdoor recreation and camps specialist.