LEFT:  Students from The Renaissance School walk to their gathering place for Earth Day.  

All Earth Day celebrations are intended to raise awareness and a sense of care and love for the Earth and all its environments, and especially to draw attention to the continuing role of humanity in the overall health of the Earth.  The students at The Renaissance School on Shelburne Farms spent the day joining others throughout the world in special activities to commemorate the day.  As in years past, this is also a Stewardship Day for the students at the farm.  This is one of the ways The Renaissance School practices being good community members by offering help certain times of the year with clean-up and chores around the farm, all to instill an ethic of care for the land that supports them.

The children gathered early on a beautiful Friday morning to begin the day with story and song from their music instructor, Ellie Tetrick, as well as from founder Louise Piché.  Afterwards, the students split into mixed age groups for “Beach Clean-up,” “Trail Repair,” and “Outdoor Artwork.”  They reconvened at midmorning and noon for food and conversation about their experiences having fun and doing hard work as stewards that morning.  One group managed to cover an entire trail section in cedar chips, hauling and spreading the chips on the wide trail with the assistance of two teachers.

Earth and Stewardship Day at The Renaissance School is always a welcome day as it also heralds the return of spring, and today was no different.  The Renaissance School is happy to continue to emphasize care for oneself, care for the community and care for the planet as part of its curriculum.

LEFT:  The Renaissance School students sing Earth Day Songs with their music teacher, Ellie Tetrick.

LEFT:  Founder Louise Piche tells an Earth Day story to the assembled students.

LEFT:  Danielle Harris, kindergarten teacher at The Renaissance School, keeps a close eye on her students.

LEFT:  Jocelyn Rogers, Kindergarten/First Grade teacher at The Renaissance School, re-convenes her Stewardship Group to discuss the remainder of their work.  

LEFT:  Students from The Renaissance School carry cedar chips to be spread on a walking trail.

LEFT:  Renaissance School students separate five gallon buckets for drying after using them to spread chips on the trail.  

LEFT:  A student carries a last load of cedar chips to the top of the trail for spreading.  

BELOW:  Two students work to separate buckets that are stuck together.