Bennett’s
Millpond Academy Summer 2004
“Yesterday
was the first time I had visited the Millpond. I thought it
was beautiful! I can't wait to explore more and get into a
deeper discovery of the pond. I am very excited about working
on this project and seeing what results I can come up with.”
–
Bennett’s Millpond Project Junior
The
shared enthusiasm for the Millpond Academy during the summer
of 2004 was defined by the above quote. The week was filled
with many new adventures for the students and teachers in the
project, incorporating fieldwork with the specific content about
coastal wetlands. Our guest speakers were experts in the fields
of fisheries management, forestry management, local climatology,
nocturnal observational biology, wetland botany, wetland delineation,
soil genesis and community action planning. Students began to
view Bennett’s Millpond as a dynamic system, with the
biotic and abiotic components weaving a delicate pattern that
uniquely defines a coastal cypress swamp. Each mentoring teacher
helped the students further focus on problem-based learning
as project ideas began to take shape. The entire Millpond Academy
group was invited to have lunch with the members of the Chowan
County Millpond Committee, where the students listened to the
dialog about facility management from local citizens. After
the luncheon, many of the local citizens viewed the student
work from the spring symposium and asked the students about
their work on Bennett’s Millpond.
This
year, the students paid a nocturnal visit to the Millpond. As
the nighttime air deepened with evening animal voices, the spotlights
aimed into the trees and the water yielded thousands of curious
eyes. And what Millpond Academy would be complete without a
morning sunrise canoe trip on the pond? It is difficult in words
to describe the dawn of a new day over the calm waters, but
once you have seen it, you will always want to revisit the scene.
