Natural Literacy
Our mission: To foster understanding and love for nature in youth through experiential learning opportunities integrating science, math, art and literacy.
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We do this by discovering new plants and creatures, making forest tea, learning about bugs and mosses, photosynthesis and more. Miss Jenni, our teacher, offers it all in six schools in the region. The schools are: Nickerson, CASS , Searsport, Ames, Weymouth, and Wagner. (She also leads Fish Friends.)
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In 2024, natural literacy classes involved nearly 1800 hours of student learning time and garnered rave reviews...Like this one:
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​Dear Ms. Jenni,
Wow! I had so much fun with you this year with you!
One of my favorite activities was when we played metamorphosis croquet. ....Every time you go through a wicket you go up a stage in the life cycle. I was partners with Ari and we each took turns hitting the ball into the wicket.
I loved the time when we acted like woodcocks. A woodcock flies in circles to go up and down. We went in circles to act like woodcocks flying.
A third topic I was excited about was the posters you gave us of so many interesting things like frogs, snakes, amphibians, and insects. The posters have the names of animals that live in vernal pools and facts about them.
Tyson
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Why do we do this? One way—maybe the best way—to preserve the watershed is to help young people appreciate the natural environment and their role in it. Their world, their future.
How do we do this? We’ve gotten support from a range of sources, including state and local grants, and individual contributions. You can donate here >
