Summer school goes beyond the textbook Houlton program aims to educate kids about state resources

HOULTON – In a field behind the Southside School on Wednesday morning, a group of pupils sat mesmerized as Barry McAllister, planting operations supervisor for Irving Forest Products, dug a hole in the grass. With a mixture of precision and care, he placed a tiny seedling in the ground, doused it with water, and padded handfuls of soil around the tree.

“We plan a lot of these trees in our state,” McAllister told the group. “Did you know that?”

If they didn’t, the 85 Kindergarten through sixth grade pupils had just learned it, along with a host of other information about Maine, during their month-long stint in summer school.

“The focus on the Maine theme this year was in part because several children, especially in the younger grades, are learning about different counties,” Janet Barker, one of the summer school coordinators, said on Wednesday. “Maine history is taught in the fourth grade, so we thought that this would entice the younger children to be involved and get the older children to learn more about it.”

“It has been a lot of fun, and the children have really enjoyed it,” said Michelle VanTasel, co-coordinator of the summer session. “We have spent this final week doing enrichment activities like we are featuring here.”

Earlier in the week, pupils tapped into the state’s agricultural resources by making potato candy, blueberry pancakes and collages that included prints of Maine animals. A trip to Patten Lumberman’s Museum was also on the agenda, according to the teachers.

On Wednesday, pupils spent the morning rotating through stations that focused on minerals, fossils, plants and skeletons. In one room, the children were constructing a skeleton with the bones of a 4-year-old cow moose that was believed to have been killed by a logging truck near Baxter State Park. A few classrooms away, pupils were building miniature hot air balloons.

After last year’s ocean theme, Barker said that the focus on Maine was “something new and different.”

Mataya Gardiner, a 10-year-old from Houlton, was patiently trying to fly her hot air balloon in a crowded classroom. The youngster said that she had woven the basket out of paper and attached some balloons with string.

“It’s been really fun, this week especially,” Gardiner said.

Besides the forestry demonstration that was going on outside, Irving officials also incorporated ergonomics into their presentation, illustrating how planters safely carry 45 pounds of seedlings at a time on their backs.

“I will plant 4 million trees in the state on our own land,” McAllister told the group. “So you have to do it safely and with a lot of care. These trees are like babies.”

After watching the presentation, pupils were given a tree to take home and care for themselves. Brandon Davenport, a 10-year-old from Littleton, already had plans for what he would do with his.

“I think I will plant it near the pond next to my house,” Davenport said on Wednesday. “I’ve never planted a tree before.”