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In Our Own Backyard: PDS and the Heritage of the Hudson

This article appears in the Fall 2004 edition of the school magazine, Currents.

  

The majestic and mighty Hudson River is a national treasure-and right here in our own backyard. So it is no wonder that Poughkeepsie Day School teachers and students have studied the Hudson time and again. Indeed, it is an amazingly rich source of inspiration from which myriad lessons in such areas as ecology, economics, geography, history, hydrology, politics, technology, transportation and the arts and culture naturally flow.

Last year was no exception. Lower school teachers Bill Fiore, Lynn Fordin, Lenae Madonna and Rebecca Santner used the river as the centerpiece of the social studies curriculum for their first and second-grade students, but with an important, new twist: "Life along the Hudson River: Exploring its Nature and Culture" was supported by a prestigious $10,000 Heritage Education Grant. Funded by the National Park Service, Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area and Hudson River Valley, the grant was part of a pilot program to help area educators develop curricula using historic sites, museums and other public places in the Hudson River Valley to teach key themes related to New York State's standards for students in kindergarten through grade nine.

Poughkeepsie Day School's winning proposal included an essential collaborative component, through which teachers and students would work closely with educators-both on and off campus-at the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center of Vassar College, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Institute of Ecosystem Studies and Mid-Hudson Children's Museum. This collaboration provided numerous opportunities for off-campus field work, including research on zebra mussels and the ecology of the Hudson River, in conjunction with Poughkeepsie Day School middle school students and faculty. And, it culminated in a magnificent interactive Hudson River Museum, created through a partnership of teachers, students and their parents.
Above, parents and students work together to create a replica of the Mid-Hudson Bridge; at right, the finished product!

A highlight of the year was the selection of the Little Sloop Singers (aka, students in the 1-2 classrooms) to perform at the official ceremony placing the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater on the National Register of Historic Places (see photo at right). That day, the students, accompanied by their teachers and educators from the Clearwater with whom they had worked throughout the year, had the enviable opportunity of honoring the Hudson River and singing with the legendary Pete Seeger. It is Seeger, a PDS grandparent and an honoree at the school's 70th anniversary celebration in October, who has been the driving force behind the Clearwater's founding and subsequent success as a most influential environmental organization, responsible in large measure for the significant strides made in the last two decades in cleaning up the Hudson and educating children and adults alike about its importance to the community and the larger world.
Clearly, the creative vision of Poughkeepsie Day School teachers, parents, students and area educators, along with a lot of elbow grease and long hours, have helped ensure that this Hudson River study will have a lasting impact on all involved. To be sure, the whole process has given new meaning to the word "collaboration" by demonstrating how powerful and all-encompassing learning can be when people work together. Perhaps also it has served as a reminder that the Hudson-like the whole of our natural world-is a fragile place. In this way we keep forever in our minds not only the memory of our past and present experiences but also the responsibility we have as stewards of our future.
Parent mentors were honored at a special end-of-the year ceremony. Their expertise and energy were essential to the collaboration.

Editor's Note: Not only did PDS teachers benefit from receiving the Heritage Education Grant, they were also recognized as leaders in the program, helping to teach other educators in the area about the benefits of an interdisciplinary and interactive curriculum, which is, of course, part and parcel of the PDS philosophy and practice across grades and divisions. As a result of last year's Hudson River Study, PDS was awarded a second-year Heritage grant to support this year's Shawangunk Ridge study, also in the first and second grades. More on this exciting program as the year unfolds.

Read the press release on the Heritage Education Grant.

Read about Rebecca Santner's Post-September 11th Block Project.

Big questions for the Hudson…and it speaks volumes!

Among the "big questions" posed by the six, seven and eight-year old students of the combined 1-2 classes, which the year-long study attempted to address was "How does the way we live today differ from how people lived in the past?"

Starting from discussions within the classroom and then moving out into the larger community, students were able to get a sense of the essential elements necessary for building communities-both now and long ago. Once a solid understanding of the key components of present day community life was established, the classes ventured back in time to research unique communities of the past, such as the native peoples who lived along the river, explorers and settlers, pioneering conservationists, and the artists and writers inspired by the Hudson.

Thematic activities related to this question and others related to the Hudson spilled out across the rest of the curriculum to include mapmaking, projects in the style of a particular community's tradition, research though reading books, interviewing others and dramatizing stories about historical events. Puppet shows, literature, cooking projects, composing songs, dances, pottery and other resources and activities were used to explore these topics in depth.

  John Bowser, of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, and Mary Ford, of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies, were among the area educators actively involved in the year-long study. Frequent trips to Esopus Meadows, the field study site for the Clearwater, and to the Institute's center in Millbrook, were essential components of the children's exper-iences and their understanding of the Hudson.  

And, of course, the river provided a great jumping off point-if you will-as a complex, natural laboratory, for the students scientific studies and questions: What are the special characteristics of water, river systems, and other bodies of water? How was the Hudson formed? How does it continue to change? How do plants and animals survive within its ecosystem? What are the challenges facing the species that live by and in the river?

Back in the classroom, children continued to engage in hands-on activities to explore the world around them. Water tables within the room provided students with opportunities to explore and experiment with water's properties. Aquariums stocked with local flora and fauna were central to investigations. Methods of inquiry included observing, predicting and recording, along with ample opportunities to discuss the results of these explorations.