Servant Leadership in Action!

Check out our elementary students leading by example during our Raise Craze event!  Thank you to all the students and teachers who care for the land at Brompton. Your acts of service shine during our Raise Craze fundraiser, but even more inspiring is the way you make caring for nature and our community a part of your everyday life- no incentive needed!

Outdoor Learning

The weather has been perfect for learning outdoors!  Our Teachers do a great job of balancing outdoor learning with outdoor play.  Below, Ms. Kelly regularly takes the Second Graders outdoors for learning. Reading and discussion are so enjoyable outside- what a gift to these kiddos!

Nature Connection and Art Class

Did you know that Ms. Leland teaches Elementary Art outdoors as well? She does an incredible job blending art techniques with Nature Connection. After learning about artist Andy Goldsworthy, our students created their own nature-inspired pieces—and they turned out beautifully!

Our students have learned so much from Ms. Leland’s lessons, and they’ve created so many excellent pieces that I’d like to continue sharing them with you over the next month. Perhaps your family could spend some time during a break creating art together—send me a photo, and I’d love to post it on our website!

Let’s keep noticing nature’s beauty and expressing our gratitude through creativity.

Our First Eco Schools Student Leadership Meeting

Upcoming Student Leadership Meeting

Student Leadership Officers

Want to join the Team?

The Action Team meetings are a powerful way to contribute to something bigger than ourselves by improving and caring for our Schoolyard Habitat. I sincerely love spending time with this generous and hard-working group of students and adults. It has been an unexpected personal joy—and from the smiles and energy I see, I think our volunteers feel the same way.  The only regret I have is that I get so wrapped up in the hour's work, I don't get pictures of everyone so if you love taking pics and videos, drop me a note!

To join our Action Team—either on our monthly Fridays or on your own schedule—please reach out. There’s no long term, guilt-laden, socially draining, commitment required.  It's all about spending an hour with your kiddo(s), doing something helpful, in an environment that is encouraging.  Send me an email if you would like to know more (kathy@bromptonschool.org), and we’ll find something that fits your interests and availability. There truly is a way for everyone to connect and lean into your natural strengths.  Basically, when it comes to serving on Action Team,  If it feels difficult, you’re doing it wrong!

Our next meeting will be on Friday, December 12th.  All participating adults and students need to register HERE so we can keep track of students staying after school, and properly plan supervision for our activities.

Art and Nature

If you haven’t been paying attention to the art lessons at Brompton, you are really missing out! Each month, Ms. Leland offers incredible creative invitations to our students, and this month was no exception. She introduced them to artist Andy Goldsworthy through a magnificent picture book that beautifully showcases his work.

Goldsworthy is known for creating art with nature—amplifying the beauty of the natural world using sticks, stones, leaves, ice, and anything he finds outdoors. (You can explore more of his work on his website—linked HERE.)

Many of our students (and a few teachers!) were especially inspired by his stick sculptures. As you can see below, Mr. Karsten and his Krew jumped right into the spirit of the lesson, building a beautiful Goldsworthy-style “fort” using sticks and natural materials gathered from the forest.

Kindergarten Connection

Ms. Alyssa has introduced an indoor compost viewer to the kindergarten classroom, allowing them to monitor decomposition up close. For their experiment, students collected partially decomposed materials from the garden (including a few familiar student lunch leftovers!) and placed them in the viewer to observe the process over time.

In other nature news, our youngest naturalists are exploring the rainforest ecosystem and comparing it to the ecosystems found here in North America. After learning about the canopy and forest floor of tropical habitats, they took a hike in our own woods to make direct comparisons. The highlight of the day was examining and contrasting the nests of toucans and crows, noting differences in structure, location, and purpose.

It is truly wonderful to watch these young learners expand their perspective, deepen their curiosity, and grow in compassion for the natural world.

Nature Intensive Class

Our Nature Intensive Class was on campus this Friday to help advance an important Eco Schools Schoolyard Habitat goal. We have quite a few invasive Bradford Pear trees growing beside our Pollinator Garden. Before school, my husband volunteered to take down a good number of the trees. While it was a little sad to see them go, getting a close-up look at the fruits made it clear why these trees are so invasive—there were thousands of fruits, ready to be dispersed by animals or simply drop to the ground.

After school began, my Intensive students jumped right in to remove the last several trees from the tangle of wild roses and blackberry bushes. They then helped strip the trees of their leaves and berries, using saws and branch clippers to create the framework for a bean teepee. I was so proud of their hard work!

This spring, the structure will be covered with snow peas, sugar snap peas, and green beans, providing a space where students of all ages can hide, snack, and relax in the garden. What a wonderful way to turn an invasive problem into a learning and play opportunity!

Later in the day, our Intensive students headed to a new section of the forest for exploration. I had been waiting to bring students here because the thick grass made it difficult to spot snakes safely—but the cool November air provided the perfect opportunity.

We were fortunate to encounter several fascinating creatures basking in the warm afternoon sun, as well as a couple of  salamanders tucked under rotting logs. We even found a few clutches of salamander eggs! All the forest beings were returned safely and gently to their home, but it was an exciting and happy discovery for the group.

The students also spent part of the afternoon practicing orienteering skills, thanks to the generosity of Ms. Kistemaker (a.k.a. Arya’s Grandma). A retired teacher and active Master Gardener, she can be counted on to share her fun spirit and extensive knowledge with our class. On Friday, she provided a new set of orienteering compasses and some excellent scavenger hunt prizes so the students could practice following directions and navigating using cardinal points. For novice navigators, using a compass is trickier than it looks—but in true Grandma style, she also sent each student home with a bag of candy as a consolation prize.  We are so grateful for support from our BCS extended family!

All in all, it was a wonderful day of exploring, practicing new skills, and discovering new habitats.

Our next outing will be on Friday, November 21st, when we travel to Meadowview Biological Research Station (see link HERE)  in Caroline County to study the native Pitcher plant population. While at Meadowview, Dr. Sheridan will discuss the importance of bog habitats and explain why controlled burns are critical to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. There will be so much to see and study during this exciting off-campus adventure!