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Members of the WCEE's Education for Sustainability in Wisconsin Steering Committee. Assistant Head of School Mary Anna Thornton is standing in the foreground, at left.

Conserve School’s Assistant Head of School, along with the school’s University of Wisconsin Graduate Fellows, took part in a year-long research project on attitudes toward sustainability and education in Wisconsin communities, spearheaded by the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education (WCEE). The research project recently culminated in the publication of the report “Cultivating Education for Sustainability in Wisconsin Schools.” Assistant Head of School Mary Anna Thornton, a member of the Education for Sustainability in Wisconsin Steering Committee, collected and organized data from the northeastern region of the state, while other steering committee members collected data in their own regions. As part of the process, Mary Anna and the Graduate Fellows collaborated to carry out a focus group protocol developed at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. This WCEE research project was coordinated with another state-wide education initiative, the development of “Wisconsin’s Plan to Advance Education for Environmental Literacy and Sustainability in PK-12 Schools,” carried out by the Wisconsin Department of Instruction (to see a DPI press release about the plan, click here). Just made available online, this publication is the state’s first education plan related to sustainability.

Congratulations to the WCEE and to the DPI on their completion of these ambitious undertakings! The Conserve School community is glad to be able to support and participate in projects that promote young people’s commitment to and understanding of sustainability and environmental stewardship.

The WCEE is an outreach and extension program of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s College of Natural Resources.

You can read more about these organizations and initiatives on the Environmental Education in Wisconsin website.

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Conserve School is a conservation-based semester school for high school students. Read more about us at www.conserveschool.org or on our Facebook page.

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We provide all Conserve School students with their own websites, teach them how to enter and edit text and how to upload photos to the sites, and encourage them to follow the prompts we’ve set up on the sites to create unique e-portfolios. Students capture their experiences here at Conserve School on these websites through narratives, photographs, examples of academic projects, and in some cases, videos.

The prompts we’ve set up on the students’ websites guide them in reflecting on what they’ve learned and how they’ve grown during their semester, asking, for example: Why do you think this activity or assignment is worth featuring in your e-portfolio? What did you learn from this experience? How does this experience relate to Conserve’s School-wide Learning Goals?

Students also use the e-portfolios to set goals for themselves at the beginning of the Conserve School semester and then, at the end of the semester, to evaluate to what degree they’ve met those goals — and how. The e-portfolios conclude with a “Final Thoughts” page, on which students record new goals for their lives post-Conserve.

Educational research demonstrates that self-reflection (or, to use the educational research jargon, “metacognition”) improves learning and memory. We believe that the process of creating an e-portfolio helps students more deeply understand, and more effectively retain, the academic lessons — and the life lessons — that they’ve learned while living at Lowenwood.

We staff members appreciate the e-portfolios because they allow us to see Conserve School through the students’ eyes. Reviewing the e-portfolios helps us carry out our own self-reflection and goal-setting as we work to continuously improve our program.

Thank you to all of the students who put extra time and effort into building these websites!

And here are our winners. Please click on the students’ names to go to their e-portfolios.

Honorable Mentions
Each of these students received a certificate and a $25.00 gift card from Amazon.com.

Megan S.
Laura L.
Corrin D.
Hannah D.

Tied for 2nd Place
Each of these students received a certificate and a $300 college scholarship.

Kelsie S.
Sarah B.

1st Place
This student received a certificate and a $500 college scholarship.

Shelbi K.

Congratulations, students!

- Mary Anna

Conserve School is a conservation-based semester school for high school students. Read more about us at www.conserveschool.org or on our Facebook page.

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Each teacher and administrator is assigned several advisees along with a graduate fellow or two. This group eats lunch together every Thursday and also shares occasional social events throughout the semester. Advisors meet with their advisees one-on-one frequently for short, informal mentoring sessions. This advisory system ensures that each student has at least one adult on campus who knows them well and is checking in on them regularly.

A number of advisory groups had their last advisory dinners or activities this week or last week, some of them holiday-themed. In the accompanying photos you see a gingerbread house-making activity with the advisory groups of Cathy Palmer, Director of Outdoor Programs and Residential Life, and Jean Haack, Sustainability Coordinator; a cookie-baking and -decorating activity with my advisory group and the advisory group of Phil DeLong, Director of Admissions and Residential Life; and a dinner and games night with the advisory groups of Nancy Schwartz, Art Teacher, and her husband, Robert Eady, Science and Ceramics Teacher. All of the activities were held at staff members’ on-campus apartments. Enjoy the photos and the short clip (below) of students singing at Nancy and Robert’s.

- Mary Anna

Savanna, Katie, Theo, Kelsie, and Jean Haack, Stewardship Coordinator, decorate gingerbread cookies and a gingerbread house.

Kelsie

Kelsie and Katie

Maddie works at the island, Jean is at the stove, and Lucy the Golden Retriever is hoping for a treat.

Sammie, Theo, Kelsie, and Katie

Brooke, Hanaa, and Graduate Fellow Leanna Jackan frost cookies.

After frosting several batches, Brooke is still going and Hanaa looks like she’s had enough.

Megs, Brooke, Katie, Hanaa, Hannah, Katin, Leanna, and Phil DeLong, Director of Admissions and Residential Life

Phil, Bill (Graduate Fellow), Adam, Brooke, Megs, Hanaa, Katie (Katin and Hannah are in the foreground)

Katie and Katin get ready to mix up some cookie batter.

Katin and Katie show off (and enjoy) the oatmeal-peanut butter cookies they baked.

Leanna and Adam at the kitchen table in my apartment, with Phil at the island behind them.

Megs gets ready to roll out cookie dough and cut out shapes.

Aris, Graduate Fellow Amy Nosal, Garrett, and Montana share a meal at the apartment of teachers Nancy Schwartz and Robert Eady.

Cadan, Anna, Laura, and Aris play a game.

Garrett, Montana, and Ryan

Sarah, Cadan, Bailey, Anna, Laura, Aris, Amy, and Garrett

Laura, Aris, and Amy

Graduate Fellow Leanna Jackan and Sarah

Montana and Ryan

Ryan

Conserve School is a conservation-based semester school for high school students. Read more about us at www.conserveschool.org or on our Facebook page.

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As we enter the final week of the semester, students and staff are determined to fit as much winter fun as possible into the time we have left. So despite warming temperatures that brought rain and turned some of our lovely snow into slush, students in Field Instruction broke out their snowshoes on Monday and Tuesday. Some had done this before and some hadn’t, but field instructor Chris Homeister explained the basics and took them out into a bog, where they could try out the school’s snowshoes on flat, open ground. Our hope is that the skills students have been practicing during their last weeks here at Conserve School will help them get out and enjoy winter even after they’ve left to return home – we’re certainly going to miss them!

~Rebecca

Rob figures out how to adjust his snowshoes for his feet.

Cole figures out how to tighten the bindings on his snowshoes.

Laura L. gets her snowshoes on.

Success! She got them on!

Ready to tackle the deep snow! (If there were any!)

Field instructor Chris Homeister offers tips as students adjust to their snowshoes.

Into the woods to try them out!

Not the greatest photo, but students enjoyed a snowshoe-clad snowball fight!

A thumbs up from field instructor Chris!

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Our first few inches of snow were enough to get out the tubes and saucers and start sledding on our tobogganing hill. Here you can see Field Instruction classes getting some exercise last week amid the snowflakes.

Eventually, the sledding outing devolved into a snowball fight; students allege that Field Instructors Greg Handley and Chris Homeister started it. I emailed students a question about the barricade you can see in the last two photos of the slideshow, and here are a few of the answers I got.

We made an army of sleds and tubes and slowly marched up the sledding hill. The sleds and tubes served to protect us from the snowballs of Greg and Chris. At the top of the hill, we broke the barricade and tackled Greg.
- Brennan

We had the idea of getting all of the sleds to the bottom of the hill and made a barricade out of them. Greg started throwing snowballs at us, so we re-formed to two levels of sleds and started advancing to get closer to Greg and Chris. They continued to throw snowballs as we got closer, and then we commenced to attack Greg and tackle him. It was just a really fun little thing we did towards the end of class.
- Laura L.

The first snow of the season brings out the kid in all of us! The playfulness of these photos reminded me of our Conserve School Community Beliefs and Commitments (meant to guide the actions of the staff) and Schoolwide Learning Goals (meant to guide the actions of the students), which highlight the importance of outdoor play:

Learning Goal #8: A Conserve School student frequently takes time for outdoor play and reflection.
Community Commitment #8:  We regularly set aside our obligations in order to refresh and renew ourselves, play together, and reflect while immersed in the beauty of the natural world.

- Mary Anna

Katie, Ellie, Montana, Brennan, Cole, Savannah, and Field Instructor Greg Handley

Rob

Tommy

Sarah and Field Instructor Greg Handley head back up the hill.

Cole

Brennan

Ellie

Montana, Brennan, Katie, Ellie, Cole, Savannah, and Greg

Savannah, Ellie, Sarah, and Laura L.

Cole

Brennan, Katie, Sarah, Montana, Field Instructor Chris Homeister, and Laura

David flips over and begins a somersault down the hill.

He’s upright again.

But not for long.

And back to face-down. (In case you were wondering: no injuries sustained.)

David on another run, with a different sled.

Ellie, Katie, and Cole

Students line up in a defensive barricade to ward off snowballs thrown by the Field Instructors.

Students start advancing up the hill toward the opposing forces.

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At long last, we have enough snow on the ground to go cross-country skiing, and students and staff are making the most of this short window of opportunity before the end of the semester.

Last week, Conserve School Admissions and Residential Life Director Phil DeLong, an accomplished cross country skier, spent his afternoons in Field Instruction with Conserve School students, taking students step by step through the basics of cross country skiing. He was assisted by the Field Instructors, some of whom were also on skis for the first time, and by a few of our students who are themselves outstanding skiers.

As you can see in the photos, Phil started his lessons inside the Lowenwood Recreation Center, with an explanation of the physics of skiing. After helping students find correctly sized shoes and skis, he led the group outside and coached them as they fit their shoes into the ski bindings. In order to help students learn to balance well, they started out with just the skis — no poles. After students practiced their kicking and gliding, Phil demonstrated how to fall and get back up again — an important skill for beginners. Finally, he let students try skiing with their poles. You can see from the photos how the group improved over time. It was fun to see the beginners go from cautious to confident!

I’m sending out a big thank you to the Conserve School students who are experienced skiers. Last week, as I observed Field Instruction, I saw them kindly talking their classmates through their first tentative forays on skis, hurrying over to help them stand up again after falling, and generally just sticking by their sides and encouraging them. It is always heart-warming to see students be so generous and caring with one another.

- Mary Anna

Phil introduces students to the basics of cross-country skiing in the Lowenwood Recreation Center.

Sammie, Field Instructor Heather Lumpkin, and Mari check out equipment from the gear room.

Sean puts his boots on.

Niina emerges from the gear room with skis and poles.

Megs and Haley concentrate as they lace their ski boots.

Megs and Haley smile for the camera.

Megs has her skis and poles and is ready to go.

Haley, Nicole, Theo, Niina, and Cadan about to leave the Lowenwood Recreation Center.

Phil explains to students how the bindings work.

Phil gives the students some last-minute instructions before they give skiing a try.

Mari and Nicole try out their skis for the first time.

Phil leads the students in their first attempt at skiing.

Phil coaches Mari and Corrin as they head out on to the trail.

Phil demonstrates how to get up a small hill.

Mari and Corrin pick up speed.

Phil watches the students for a moment before heading to another group.

Phil skis away to check on another group as the students work on getting their sea legs.

Phil’s still checking on them as he joins another group.

Haley, Cadan, Corrin, Theo, and Nicole contemplate the first small hill they have to contend with.

Syd and Hanaa take a momentary break.

Phil demonstrates how to get up from a fall.

After Phil demonstrated, students tried out falling and getting back up again.

Megs is quick to get on her feet again.

Mari and Paul

Logan, Cadan, and Sammy

Tianse, Hanaa, Niina, and Sean listen to Phil as he gives instruction.

Niina

Paul, Corrin, and Sean

Megs, Cadan, Mari, and Haley — with poles.

Sean, Hanaa, and Sammie are in the lead.

Theo, Mari, and Haley look like they are getting the hang of it.

Hanaa, Sean, and Haley

Niina leads the pack, with Phil and Corrin close behind.

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Okay, at Conserve School we don’t have an official “school picture day.” However, last week English teacher and photographer extraordinaire Jeff Rennicke offered to take portraits of any interested students in his home studio. The results ranged from serious to silly, and as we near the end of the semester it was a fun way for students to memorialize some of the friendships they’ve made here. A big thank you to Jeff for donating his time and expertise!

~Rebecca

Aris, Will, and Tommy – Aris and Tommy are showing off the “ugly sweaters” they purchased at a thrift store earlier in the semester.

Pretty sure this is Chase, Sean, and Garret. It’s hard to tell with the masks!

Cody and Nate observing Flannel Friday.

David and Brennan.

Hannah D. and Katie M-T.

Joe and Katie L.

Laura B., Sammie, and Laura L. – aww!

Meg and Tianse.

Megs, Shelbi, and Mari – Conserve School’s Angels?

Niina and Hannah S.

Sarah, Cadan, and Katin.

The two Savs – Savannah H. and Savanna R.

Sean, Rob, Garrett, and Chase. Um…

Theresa and Maddie.

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Kathy Jones, Conserve School Math Teacher and Educational Technology Coordinator, has announced that she will be retiring at the end of this school year, in June of 2012. Kathy has been a key member of the Conserve School staff since 2004, when she joined us. She has filled a number of critical roles, revising and improving our math curriculum, working to develop our new semester program, setting up processes for communication with sending schools, spearheading our accreditation self-study, introducing staff and students to new technology, and troubleshooting computer issues. Kathy’s dedication has been apparent in the long hours she has consistently devoted to preparing meticulously planned lessons, assisting both staff and students one-on-one, taking on new assignments and responsibilities whenever the need arose, teaching herself new skills in mathematics instruction and in technology, and cheerfully collaborating with colleagues on the myriad tasks that accompany school life. Over the course of her career, Kathy has helped many, many students reach a high achievement level in math – whether they were students who loved math already or students who had previously feared and avoided math – through her dedication to meeting each student’s needs, through her skill and patience, and through her willingness to try, try, and try again when a student was struggling with a new concept or skill.

In addition to Kathy’s considerable academic, instructional, and technology expertise, her outstanding quilting, craft, and graphic arts skills, her love for animals (dogs, wolves, and horses, especially), her interest in dramatic productions (and her ability to whip up beautiful programs), her appreciation of the beauty of the natural world, her baking skills, and her quirky sense of humor have all helped Kathy establish close bonds with her students and have greatly enriched the Conserve School program.

Kathy’s retirement follows a distinguished teaching career that started in Chicago-area Catholic schools. She has primarily taught mathematics, taking only a short break from the math classroom early in her career to teach the full middle school curriculum. She spent most of her career teaching high school mathematics and computer programming and has taken on a variety of administrative roles as well, including high school Mathematics Department Chair, Science Department Chair, and School Technology Director. At Conserve School, Kathy has taught math courses, Photoshop, and PSAT, SAT, and ACT test preparation, and, over the years, she has planned and chaperoned too many Conserve School extracurricular activities to even begin to describe. Kathy also brought to Conserve School the talents of her husband, Roger Jones, a retired DePaul University Mathematics Professor, who was a very welcome addition to our staff both as a tutor and as a math teacher. Kathy is looking forward to spending more time with Roger, who retired two years ago, pursuing their many hobbies, and enjoying the company of their gregarious American Water Spaniel, Dee Dee.

Kathy will be with us off and on for a few months at the beginning of next year as a consultant, helping the new math teacher settle in and assisting us with her special areas of expertise, like computer-based test administration.

We will miss Kathy a great deal. She leaves big shoes to fill (despite her size 5 feet)! We hope that Kathy, Roger, and Dee Dee find many opportunities for future visits to Conserve, and we wish Kathy the best as she enjoys her retirement.

~Conserve School

Kathy Jones wins quilting award

Kathy Jones 2006 Yearbook Photo

Alex P officiated as Kathy and Roger renewed their vows at Prom in 2005

With her husband Roger and their new marriage certificate – Prom 2005

In the classroom

Kathy & Ben during an outside math class

Quilting with Auken in March of 2008

Sharing dinner with Alex P and Reese J

Helping Dick and Ben with AP Calculus

With Eliot during precalculus class

An example of Kathy’s amazing quilting talent

Solar Oven math project with Hannah M and Bace P with Roger

Combining math and environmental science during a solar oven project

Kathy with Kathleen, Jennifer and Hannah

Showing students how to use their computers

Proctoring MAP testing with CS 1 students in the fall of 2010

Saying good bye to Jackie at the end of CS 2

With Felix Banton and Kathleen O’Connor at the CS 2 closing ceremony

During the CS 3 candlelight ceremony

During closing activiites in the Spring of 2011

Kathy chaperoned horse back riding for a weekend activity.

Kathy and her advisees having dinner at her apartment this fall

Kathy providing students with SAT math prep

Kathy working with one of her math classes this fall

In the classroom

Kathy working with students to prepare the Harvest Festival meal

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CS2 student Bree received a $500 college scholarship for her winning entry.

This week we’ve been reminding students about the upcoming deadline for submitting their e-portfolios to our E-Portfolio Scholarship Contest. A panel of staff members will judge the e-portfolios on December 15. The students who submit the three highest-quality e-portfolios, evaluated according to a rubric students have been given, will receive $500, $300, and $200 college scholarships.

Our e-portfolio system is a means for students to record and reflect on school work and activities that have been particularly meaningful to them and to store their memories online in a way that is easy to access both for them once they leave Conserve School and for friends or family members. Academic research shows that reflection and self-assessment are powerful tools for improving student learning, and an e-portfolio can be a useful vehicle for eliciting and guiding self-reflection. (See one example of educational literature that promotes the use of student self-evaluation here.) In addition, the professional world uses technology routinely to showcase achievements, products, and services, so by teaching Conserve students how to assemble an on-line portfolio, we’re giving them a boost on their way to developing the skills and outlook of professionals. Furthermore, more and more colleges are adopting e-portfolio expectations. Here is one example, from Clemson University.

Good luck, CS3 students, and we look forward to seeing your completed e-portfolios!

Mary Anna

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We’re back to work after break! Here are some of today’s events:

In our English class, Wilderness Voices: American Literature and the Land, students are working their way through their last unit, entitled “Speak Up & Speak Out!” This section of the course is aimed at giving students the skills they need to effectively voice their beliefs. Yesterday each student completed a bumper sticker that expressed one of their beliefs, and today, English Teacher Jeff Rennicke had the stickers plastered on his car. The class headed outside to view the bumper stickers in their natural element. While admiring the stickers, students explained their messages to one another and gently critiqued one another’s work, following a checklist provided by Jeff. They considered a variety of questions: Would a change in wording increase the impact? Should the message be more concise? Is the sticker easy to read from a distance? Do the images and colors enhance or distract from the text? Does a bumper sticker have to have words or can the picture tell the story? Read more about this activity on Jeff’s Conserve School website.

At the same time, another section of students participated in Environmental Science class with teacher Robert Eady, learning about alternative energy. Robert demonstrated to students the physics of steam power by firing up an elaborate tabletop steam engine model that once belonged to James R. Lowenstine, Conserve School’s founder. Students  then paired off to work on an assignment: each pair will have to present the physics of an alternative energy method, along with its environmental impact and the economic and political issues that influence its use.

While we’re on the topic of energy … Spanish Teacher Kathleen O’Connor and Math Teacher Kathy Jones recently applied for the opportunity to be beta testers for a new professional development opportunity, the Green Classroom Professional Certificate program (www.gbci.org/gcp), and were notified this week that they had been selected. They will be busy in the next several weeks completing the coursework, considering ways to make their classrooms even more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, and giving the Green Building Certification Institute feedback on the experience.

Science Teacher Andrew Milbauer received some good news this week, too. He was just notified that he has been approved as a reader (i.e., test scorer) for the AP Environmental Science exam.  Being selected as a reader is considered an honor, since the College Board will only invite teachers with strong academic backgrounds and a significant amount of AP teaching and training experience. It’s also considered an excellent professional development opportunity. The College Board provides intensive training for exam readers, and the experience deepens participating teachers’ understanding of Advanced Placement expectations.

Way to go, Kathleen, Kathy, and Andy! These are great examples of how our teachers go above and beyond.

- Mary Anna

Eli explains his bumper sticker to his fellow students and receives their feedback.

A closer look at the bumper stickers on English Teacher Jeff Rennicke’s car.

… and an even closer look. This sticker reminds boaters not to spread invasive water plants.

Legalize It

Live Simply

May the Forest Be with You

Medal for Killing Men … Discharged for Loving One

Wilderness: Priceless

Science Teacher Robert Eady discusses with students the physics of wind power. Note the image of a wind turbine on the Smartboard behind him and the solar panel at the edge of the photo

Robert demonstrates steam power with a model steam engine.

Paul, Sean, and Hanaa watch the steam rise.

Paul, Sean, and Robert

The steam, whistle, and belts made for interesting viewing.

Cadan, Nicole, Logan, Paul, Sean, and Robert

Mari, Haley, Theo, Corrin, Cadan, Nicole, Logan, Paul, Sean, and Robert

Robert, Hanaa, and Megs

Robert is holding his hand over the steam beginning to come out of the engine, although you can’t see it well in the photo.