by Lauren Knierim; photo by Trevor Grandin
As the days grew shorter and the air cooler, September brought not only the changing of the seasons, but the beginning of a different SEAson.
Schoodic Education Adventure (SEA) is Acadia National Park’s residential education program for middle school students. Students spend three days on the Schoodic Peninsula exploring forest, wetland, and intertidal ecosystems, led by a zealous crew of educators from the National Park Service and Schoodic Institute.
This fall, we are excited to welcome 12 SEA educators to campus, many of whom are returning for their second season! These educators are led by Acadia National Park ranger and director of the SEA program, Alexa Pezzano, and are here at Schoodic Institute from September to mid-November.
Equipped with the teachings and encouragement of these SEA educators, students brave pinching crab claws to collect scientific data, use dichotomous keys to discern the difference between spruce and fir trees, and understand the connection between Acadia’s mountains and the sea as they watch pink granite yield grudgingly under the ceaseless swells of the Atlantic Ocean.
When asked about the motivation behind their work, SEA educators often mention a place. When people connect with nature, it happens somewhere, whether that place is a national park, a seemingly endless stretch of coastline, or the weedy edge of a woodland or a narrow ditch. These “places of initiation,” in the words of naturalist Bob Pyle, serve as playgrounds, sanctuaries, and outlets to exercise limitless curiosity. For some students, the Schoodic Peninsula in Acadia National Park will become that place of initiation. Where the earth gets under their fingernails and the border between nature and themselves breaks down, students develop a love and curiosity for the imperial craggy cliffs and the scrubby ground cover of our planet. As educators, it is our hope that this love and curiosity will grow into a sense of determination to protect these places, mountains and ditches alike.
During this fall season, keep an eye out for SEA educators and their flocks of yellow-vested middle schoolers as they investigate the boundlessness of Acadia’s thick forests and rocky summits.