Maya McFadden photos
First grader K'Jalee makes tasty treat for birds during Wellness Wednesday, an outdoors and inclusive successor to a talented and gifted program.
Students looking for color inspiration for their art class mandalas.
An Edgewood School first grader spooned sun butter and Cheerios onto a pinecone to feed a hungry bird.
Nearby, one of her fourth grade schoolmates found inspiration for a classroom art project in a pale-yellow house with green shutters.
And in an outdoor classroom area near Yale Avenue, an eighth grader weaved coral-colored yarn around two sticks to make a dream catcher to beautify her school, all as a part of a unique effort to address both social emotional challenges in the classroom and concerns about exclusivity in enrichment programs.
All of those scenes of outdoor, hands-on learning played out Wednesday afternoon at Edgewood Magnet School at 737 Edgewood Ave.
The lessons were part of Edgewood’s school-wide ECHO Program, a weekly outdoor learning effort that is now in its second year and that Principal Nicholas Perrone helped implement as a replacement for the school’s prior Talented and Gifted (TAG) program, which he described as inequitable.
TAG provided enrichment programming to only a select group of students. Edgewood’s ECHO sessions allow all of the school’s students to participate once a week in a range of enrichment activities, relationship building, and celebrating student talents and interests.
Some of the staff-led ECHO program sessions available to K‑8 students at Edgewood School this year include creating graphic novels, guitar lessons, yoga, chess, kayaking, and babysitting training.
Eighth graders make dream catchers for school yard.
First-grader Mariah: All smiles.
On Wednesday, fourth-grade teacher Jaclyn Tolkin brought a dozen her students out for a walk around the block to gain color inspiration from the houses and everyday sights in the neighborhood.
The group walked down Yale Avenue then West Elm Street and West Rock Avenue before returning back to the school building to begin creating a color palette for their art projects of making mandalas.
As the students walked excitedly around the neighborhood, Tolkin pointed out the colors of homes, cars, and small plants peeking through the remnants of melting snow piles. As they walked, many students couldn’t help but grab a handful of what they described as “powdery snow.”
“Did you guys notice that that garden was still growing, and it had so many shades of greenery?” Tolkin said while pausing outside of one home on Yale Avenue.
Fourth graders walk around the block to find color inspiration for their mandalas.
Some students jokingly asked their teacher if they could walk to their nearby homes. Others called out as cars like a Tesla drove by and declared it to be their color inspirations. “That’s gonna be my car! I’ve got to use blue.”
Tolkin stopped the class outside of a sage green home on West Rock Avenue with an orange Home Depot bucket on its front porch to point out the contrasting colors. “When you see unusual color pairings, think to yourself, would you use them as your art inspiration?”
As they neared a return back to the school building, the students called out what colors they saw on their walk. Those included dark green, gold, and brick red.
In an outdoor adventures group facilitated by Principal Perrone, a dozen seventh and eighth graders worked in the school’s outdoor classroom area on the Yale Avenue side of the building. Perrone and the students worked through two tasks Wednesday: making dream catchers with yarn and sticks and unraveling matted balls of yarn.
Once the class completed their dream catchers, the students planned to decorate the school yard with them.
In the past, the class has adventured into the nearby woodsy area to learn how to read maps and make art projects out of items students find outdoors.
As some students opted to help unravel the many matted yarn balls, Perrone talked through the life lessons like perseverance that come from the tedious task.
Handmade bird treat hung outside of Edgewood School.
On the Edgewood Avenue side of the school, first graders were helped by some eighth graders with making edible bird feeder ornaments to hang on the trees and bushes outside the school.
First grade teacher Cary Draper and seventh and eighth grade science teacher Jessica Farrell facilitated the program. Students covered pinecones in sun butter and Cheerios for the tasty winter treats.
“The birds are going to be so full after they eat this, they might vomit,” said one first grader.
So far this school year Farrell has introduced her personal hobby of gardening to her students and is in the process of teaching them lessons about harvesting, composting, fermenting seeds, and cooking with fresh produce with real life application opportunities in her classroom.
“My triple combo is going to feed every bird that comes here,” another student said.
A break to get a puzzle for class from neighborhood puzzle box.
Perrone added that the ECHO program aims not only to provide students with enrichment time, but also to help students see staff in a different light.
“When you build those relationships and get students comfortable with teachers, it makes for a better learning place,” Perrone said.
Two eighth-grade students recalled their ECHO programs last year where one learned to build and fly drones and the other joined a girls’ mentorship group for students of color that helped her to gain self-confidence.
The Wellness Wednesday programming happens both indoors and outdoors for most groups. Perrone added that the programs create organic learning experiences for both the students and educators. “We can’t always anticipate what things we will learn until we try it out,” he said.
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• Gateway Chief Uncovers Student Superpowers
• New Tutoring Site Focuses On Phonics
• Race Finds A Place In The Classroom
• “Little Engineers” Build Boats For Pirate Pete
• Seeking Stability, Cross Principal Hits The Halls
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• Teacher Tim Takes To TikTok
• Amid Shortage, Teachers Cite Disrespect
Kudos to Principal Perrone and the teachers for implementing this wonderful program.
“We can’t always anticipate what things we will learn until we try it out,” [Perrone] said.
35 years ago, my daughter was in Hamden's TAG program, followed by my son. The weekly pull-out sessions were great for them, but I always felt uncomfortable with TAG; the alternative at the time was nothing -- not this creative, inclusive, nature-based program. I've learned more about equity in the past three-plus decades, and if I had it to do over I would push for just such a program as all of Edgewood's students can enjoy.
I am a big believer in Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide/gardners-theory-of-multiple-intelligences.shtml), meaning different people learn in different ways. If teachers can promote different styles of learning, all kids can be gifted.