Middle School’s Land and Coastal Trips

At the end of November, the Middle School set off on their bi-annual Land and Coastal Experience. Half of the school focused on land work at Blackwood Educational Land Institute in Hempstead, TX, and the other half explored the coastal/water-based regions in Houston and Galveston.

The Coastal Trip

by Emma L. ’27

The Coastal Trip group started their week on campus watching “Paris to Pittsburgh,” a documentary about climate change, when America (under President Trump) pulled out of the Paris Agreement, and how climate change disproportionately affects lower-income communities. The first off-campus activity took place on Tuesday at the Armand Bayou wetlands tour. Students participated in activities relating to the importance of wetlands to the city of Houston and the ecosystems within the wetlands. They then enjoyed meals from various cultures at The Post in Houston.

The next activities were at Buffalo Bayou Park. A tour of the majestic Cistern, the once-needed water source for Houstonians, was something the group enjoyed. Something that fascinated both the students and teachers were the illusions created with the 221 concrete columns, a flashlight, and merely 10 inches of water. The columns could appear twice as tall or even infinitely deep in certain lights. Maria C. ’27 shared, “The illusions were really cool, and it was surprising to see there was water [because it appeared as only tall columns].”

On Thursday, the group headed to Galveston for an overnight stay. Before their first activity, they settled into a VRBO house big enough to fit all 28 people in the group! The students had so much fun exploring the spacious house, especially the game room and pool table. “I am going to remember the game room [well], playing ping-pong, and Ms. Pac-Man with the people in my room,” shared Raya J. ’27. The group then headed to an oil rig tour. Unfortunately, there were issues with the messages the tour guide provided to the group, such as glorifying harsh working conditions and avoiding the oil and gas industry’s impacts on climate change. However, in middle school, students are taught to develop critical thinking skills. The teachers took this experience as a way to reinforce those skills, teaching students to take in other perspectives, but think through how it aligns with their own moral values. The group ended the day with a seminar about the impact of Montessori education on children’s views of the natural world and time at the beach.

On the final day, the students served each other breakfast and began their day of activities. They met up with marine biologists on a beach and wandered the edges of the water looking for shells and asking questions. They learned about moon snails, barnacles, crabs, and sand dunes on the beach. Many also drifted into the shallows of the water to search for small fish. Throughout the trips, students in both groups practiced culinary skills (cooking meals for each other) and got the opportunity to connect to different aspects of the environment.

Land Trip

by Anya K. ’28

The day before the Land Experience group left, they had a Humanities lesson. The lesson was about the importance of being on a farm and in nature, through Maria Montessori's eyes. We learned about how Maria Montessori believed that adolescents should spend a large amount of their time out in nature and have hands-on experiences with out-of-city life. Suffice it to say, the land group gained that experience.

Some of the main experiences the group encountered were beekeeping, gardening, and cooking. At the beginning of their time at Blackwood Educational Land Institute, they split up into three groups. Each group participated in one of the three main activities for the three days they stayed there.

The day the middle schoolers arrived, they learned about and worked on beekeeping. They had the chance to not only learn about the inner workings of a bee hive but also to pick up the hive, smoke the bees, and transfer the bees into different hives. It altered their perception of bees. Learning about how similar bees are to humans made them seem much less intimidating.

Each day we had one group make all three meals for the camp. Each group had one day where they cooked in the kitchen all day. Almost all the natural ingredients that we used were grown on the farm. While cooking, we also had the opportunity to try ghost pepper oil. Let's just say the reactions were big. We got to work with an amazing group of chefs at the camp who guided us through the whole process and taught us the most efficient way to cook.

They even harvested some of the vegetables that we ate in the gardening activity. They got to take apart and create some of the garden beds that Blackwood used, use a power saw, unscrew and take apart garden beds, and harvest food. They tried some french sorrel, a tangy edible leach that was being grown at the farm. Some of the products made at Blackwood are sold at Urban Harvest in Houston and are available for purchase.

They also had various mini-opportunities. Each group helped brew a batch of compost tea, a mixture that serves as a liquid compost replacement. There were also chickens that some groups got to work with, as well as numerous dogs on the property that were always fun to have around. Their names were Bella and Izzy, and there were two puppies named Sage and Bastion.

“I really like how we got to cook our own food, and everything we did was such a great experience.” —Aidric O. ’28

“Blackwood was a really fun experience from cooking in the kitchen to working with the bees.” —Cecilia V. ’28

The message that Maria Montessori was trying to get across, that you should have a presence in nature, definitely came to light during this trip. The trip was fun and enriching, and made our group closer overall.