When was the last time students just let their inhibitions melt away, flexed their imaginations, and did something just because it was really, really fun? Mt. View Middle School students did just that -- they gave up an entire Saturday to learn about sustainability science hosted by Unity College students.

On a very cool and windy Saturday in April, a group of 13 Unity College students and two faculty members welcomed 33 middle school students and two teachers from Mt. View Middle School. The Unity students were fulfilling their experiential placement requirement by presenting lessons to the Gear Up students about sustainability science. A goal of Gear Up is to “Make college a dream that becomes a reality.”

The day started at 10 a.m. with the entire group participating in ice breakers, getting their group assignments/schedule for the day and heading out. Jeannie followed Group I to the Heritage Barn for a lesson on sustainability and farm animals. This was the brain-child of Josh Pittendreigh who won the Education Award at the 2015 Unity College December Student Conference. His project involved the design of an interpretive and experiential curriculum for middle school students to come to Unity College to learn about the Animal Barn and the importance of heritage species. The curriculum focuses on learning about sustainable practices for animal agriculture. He and his co-teacher, Laura Parmenter, were able to “field test” his curriculum. Natural food became props for the assessment activity on sustainability and livestock. Nothing was wasted as the food was then given to the pigs that were so grateful!

Other activities/lessons centered-around orienteering, solar energy, a low ropes challenge course and a scavenger hunt. All activities took into account the special developmental needs of young adolescents. They are not simply older elementary students nor are they younger high school students, but the changes in their thinking and social-emotional behavior require a different approach to education. Project Gear Up and Unity students offered a mentor relationship with teachers through the creation of small communities of learners and a flexible interdisciplinary curriculum that encouraged personalized and active learning. Unity students learned about how to teach sustainability science in ways that fit the needs and skills of middle schoolers by taking all of these factors into account.

Working in pairs and small groups, MVMS students were encouraged to think cooperatively and group problem-solve. The focus on the happy and the healthy yielded two groups of students deeply dedicated to the academic studies of the day.

Unity’s Experiential Education operates on the premise that the mind best learns and understands facts when they are woven into a conceptual fabric of experiential lessons.

For more information about Unity College and their four summer camps, please visit the website: Unity.edu