EASB has given me such a special teaching opportunity, as we are literally given the chance to create our own curriculum and be the science teachers for a week. Throughout the quarter planning for this week, it all comes down to the interactions that develop within the classroom and seeing the many hours you put into your curriculum come to life, which is honestly the best experience ever. Even though you are facilitating the same lesson plan multiple times, the same material can received and acted on so differently depending on each new group of students. One of my favorite parts of my lesson was seeing the watersheds be made, as I hadn’t actually seen what they would like like, but all of the students got really creative with the materials when creating their models and just really got into the activity. From watersheds to food webs to endangered species to shared resources, all of the lessons ignited such genuine curiosity in all of the 6th graders. In fact, during the middle of the week, Ms. Goulet commented that she was told that she had never seen the 6th graders as attentive as they were with us. In fact, Ms. Goulet even emailed us immediately after saying that she was already thinking about ideas for next year because she was so excited.
The most memorable part of my experience last year in Brewster during EASB 2014 was how I was able to build such a strong connection to the community in only a week through not only teaching, but engaging with high school students and families, attending community events, and building relationships with local members of the community. Returning to Brewster this year, I definitely felt like I got to reconnect with all members of the community. For example, it was great to see Jerry for our homestay again, as he truly make his place seem like a home away from home. Moreover, last year my team met the owner - Shannon - of a local gift shop called Sweet T, and when I walked in the door she immediately recognized me and asked how I've been doing. It's so insightful to hear her perspective on how Brewster has changed throughout the years. For instance, we talked about the significant impact that the fires had on the community since the last time I had been there. She also talked about how she was starting a new (and the first) Boys and Girls Club in the community, which led to us getting the unique opportunity to visit the club on our last day and engage with the younger elementary school students. Furthermore, another one of my favorite parts of the trip was reconnecting with the students that I worked with last year, as we coordinated some college talks at the high school and a couple of them were in 7th grade class, which means a lot of them were in the classes I taught last year.
Overall, I had such a wonderful experience teaching in Brewster again. I am amazed with the close relationships you can build with a group of students and a community in a week, and more importantly, I am amazed with how you can sustain and deepen those relationships beyond that week to create lasting connections.
-Meili Powell