April marks not only the start of spring, it also marks a busy week of Earth Day Celebrations at our schools. Schools have been hard at work teaching their students about the importance of treating our planet respectfully. In honor of what our hard-working staff has been up to this month, we wanted to showcase some of the highlights from this year’s Earth Day Celebrations.
New Branches Charter Academy in Grand Rapids hosted an Earth Day Family Night that saw over 400 visitors in total, with activities ranging from a petting zoo and carnival games to walking tacos and giveaways! There was a wide selection of local community groups in attendance as well, such as the Grand Rapids Public Library, the local Fire Department and more.
They also hosted themed days in the classroom throughout the week with a focus on sustainability, pollution, recycling and conservation. It has been such a joy watching our Environmentally focused learning space inspire our young learners with a love for the outdoors.
West Michigan Academy of Environmental Change focused their efforts on celebrating Earth Day both inside and outside of the classroom. Local news station WOOD TV8 recently featured their nature-based preschool, showcasing the beautiful 62-acre campus as they celebrated Earth Week in class.
High schoolers also spent days working with the Facilities Director to build a boardwalk across the mud on campus in the hopes of organizing a new wetlands habitat. Students of all ages also spent days of Earth Week planting and servicing trees across their campus, planting over 600 trees in total ranging from pine, spruce, redwoods and more. Seeing students and staff get together to enjoy lessons on and in the outdoors shows their dedication to environmental change, and we look forward to seeing what else they have in store before the end of the school year!
Muskegon Montessori Academy for Environmental Change has been celebrating all week with themed days for students to dress up, waste-free lunches and chances for students to landscape and garden on the school campus.
Livingston Classical Academy took its 7th graders to a local nursery, Earth Art Garden Center. Partnerships like this give our students hands-on opportunities to learn about the importance of trees. Thank you so much to the nursery for extending their space and tree knowledge to our students!
It has been such a joy watching our students learn how to take care of the environment, and we look forward to seeing more as the weather warms up! We have had a productive Earth Day this year and are excited to see what else our schools come up with as we approach the summer. We are proud to see their commitment to their mission of making environmentally-conscious young learners.