Hamden Hall Works to Make A Difference On Earth Day

As part of their annual tradition known as the Paper Bag Project, second-grade students invested their time and artistic skills as they decorated an assortment of large brown paper bags with designs and expressions such as “Happy Earth Day” and “Recycle and Reuse” in class with art teacher Sue Bennett 1973. They also drew images of planet Earth, trees, leaves, and other nature-related pictures. Students even drew hearts and outlines of their hands onto the bags. Once the bags were completed, the students along with Mrs. Bennett and classroom teachers Erin Correa and Emily White took a walk over to Whitneyville Food Market to donate their colorfully decorated bags for shoppers to use. This has been a Lower School staple for over 10 years.

Other grades within the Lower School community were busy at work with different art projects and activities. PreSchool and PreKindergarten students spent time learning all about Earth Day and sharing how they would make the planet more beautiful. Kindergarten students got crafty as they used water bottles and paint markers to create their own wind catchers to hang in the outside Mud Kitchen. They also built bird feeders using toilet paper rolls, string, sunbutter, and sunflower seeds as the materials. First-grade students made hand-prints with blue and green colored paint that were placed on construction paper with the phrase, I Got the Whole World in My Hands. Third-grade students have been focusing on their Savannah unit in preparation for their end-of-year production.

The Middle School community took its efforts off-campus with grade-level trips on Thursday, April 23. The students and faculty chaperones lent their helping hands to two organizations: The Connecticut Audubon Society organized by the efforts of science teacher Aidan Clark-Long and The Quinnipiac River Watershed Association (QRWA) organized by the efforts of science teacher Paulomi Aldo. Seventh-grade students traveled to the Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point for the day where they raked and cleaned up debris around the marsh and grounds to put into trash bags for disposal. Students also removed invasive species.

In between their clean-up efforts, the students also had some time to explore the property where they learned about the different birds and animals that occupy the sanctuaries with a scenic view of the ocean.

Eighth-grade students traveled to the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association in Meriden where they worked in groups cleaning up debris along the river, cleaned up the garden area, and brought loose sticks and leaves to the woods.

“Thank you to everyone who made the trips a success, what a beautiful day and the students were great,” said Middle School Director Brian Christman. “A very special thank you to our science teachers for all of their hard work organizing the day as Mrs. Aldo set up the Grade 8 visit to QRWA, and Mr. Clark-Long found a winner for Grade 7 in the Audubon Coastal Center in Milford.”