Fifth Grade Embarks on Three-Day Excursion to Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center

BY JONATHAN WANDERS, INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DIRECTOR, DIRECTOR OF TEACHING & LEARNING

When he retreated to the outskirts of New England society in a small cabin beside Walden Pond in 1845, Henry David Thoreau was doing so with a strong intention. Late in his Masterpiece, Walden; or Life in the Woods, in a chapter titled “Where I lived and What I lived for,” Thoreau clarifies that intention with what has become one of the more famous lines in all of nineteenth-century American literature: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately.” The wisdom and the value of that sentiment—going to the woods to experience life deliberately— feels as important as it ever has for young people, and it inspires one of the signature experiences for fifth grade students at Old Trail.

Reintroduced this past September, a three day, two night excursion in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s Environmental Education Center (CVEEC) highlights the fall of our students’ fifth grade school year, and stands as a hallmark example of naturebased, experiential learning at Old Trail. The research to support how outdoor education benefits students is robust and well-established, and our fifth grade team capitalizes on this opportunity for our students to learn together outdoors by pairing curriculum units and skill development in courses at school with specialized content and learning experiences facilitated by CVNP Rangers and guides. While at CVEEC, our students explored ecosystems native to the Cuyahoga Valley, conducted water testing as citizen scientists, classified organisms found in our local waterways, and gained heightened awareness about how to be good stewards of our shared natural resources. Each of these concrete experiences connects back to activities, skill-building and learning assessments embedded within the fifth grade curriculum. So as students build watershed models in science, learn principles of measurement in math, and practice observational and reflective writing in language arts, they do so with strong examples and context from working in the field of a national park. This profound connection is not lost on our students. Dorothy Mendelson ’25 reflected on how the trip affected her learning:

“I learned so much [...] When I went to science the next day, we were talking a lot about what we learned at CVEEC, and I could immediately remember the different plants we saw, the different maps we saw, and the pH and DO (dissolved oxygen) of the river when we tested the water. It was super easy to remember when we were taking the test, because you could just visualize what you saw when you were out in the environment.”

Dorothy’s observation demonstrates how true experiential learning goes beyond simply engaging in a “hands-on” event. The concrete act (i.e. processing water samples from the Cuyahoga River) initiates a chain of processes in which students reflect to gather perspective, think to draw conclusions and act to try out what they’ve learned.

Of course, another important outcome of the CVEEC trip is that it helps establish connections and relationships among our students and educators early in the school year. Finding a sense of place and voice is a crucial component in students’ social and emotional development, and sharing meals and bunking together for three days facilitates closer relationships for the class. Grade 5 teacher Mike McGrievy said, “I love that we visit CVEEC only a few weeks into the school year. It gives teachers and students an opportunity to get to know each other and sets the tone for the whole year. Culturally, it is one of the most important things we do during fifth grade.” Jensen Ehrler ‘26 loved that the class “gets to spend a sleepover with the whole grade” and that “it was nice to get to know some new students. [CVEEC] is when I became really good friends with Ben and London.”

With many adventures yet to come for the fifth grade, the students move forward with confidence, having returned from a deliberate and memorable walk in the woods.