Echoes of Nature, an educational organization, brought a “field trip” to three grades (second, third, and fourth) in the spring of 2010. Ms. Krueger, one of the fourth grade teachers, learned about this program and collaborated with a Somerset parent to request a grant from the Foundation to bring this extraordinary educational experience to Somerset. One of the Foundation’s goals is to promote academic excellence, and this program clearly supported that goal.
Ms. Kreuger and her colleagues in the other grades chose workshops that would enrich the science curriculum already in place at Somerset. Echoes of Nature provided students with hands-on learning experiences in their classrooms through the use of live animals (very small, and in some cases microscopic), fascinating demonstrations, and facts about the environment and animal life. The second grade studied insects and arachnids. The third grade studied food webs and photosynthesis. The fourth grade studied animal and plant life found in the Chesapeake Bay area. All workshops also encouraged an appreciation for the natural world around us, in all forms.