Although it was 90 degrees this past week, Memorial Middle School students remind us of the tremendous winter we had and the ways they got to enjoy the snow. The trails surrounds the Carter Outdoor Classroom provided great fun for the students as they explored the area on snowshoes. Come spring, with help from their grant, these students will construct and place interpretive signs throughout the nature trails, detailing the types of local flora and fauna.
Memorial Middle School sixth grade students in South Portland, Maine had been waiting all winter to go out and snowshoe in the newly constructed nature trails of the Carter Outdoor Classroom. Before a series storms covered the greater Portland area with more than three feet of snow in less than a week, every significant snow storm ended with rain or an immediate thaw making the conditions less than ideal for snowshoeing. All of this changed during the second week in February. Seeing the weather forecast, Mr. Gelman picked up 22 pairs of snowshoes from the Portland Gear Hub. Throughout the week leading up to February winter break, sixth grade students, most of who had never snow-shoed before, got the opportunity to learn to snowshoe and explore the nature trails of the Carter Outdoor Classroom and the playing fields around Memorial.
The final day of snowshoeing was a bluebird day with students snowshoeing in fresh snow and crystal blue skies and bright sun. Students were thrilled to be outside. Many students helped their classmates put on snowshoes and gave each other a hand when someone fell down. A few students also noticed different animal tracks in the snow.
It was a great way to go into February winter break, which proved to be less wintery. And luckily, when the snow melted, Mr. Gelman was able to find a snowshoe that went missing.
—guest post from Memorial Middle School 6th grade science students
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