Tunbridge Central School teacher Stacey Lober helps Tunbridge students sixth-grader Evelyn Berry, left, and Iris Puchalik a fifth-grader saw a small stump while trail clearing in the Tunbridge Town Forest on Oct. 12, 2017. Students from Chelsea Public School and Tunbridge spent a week out of the classroom participating in place-based learning in Tunbridge, Vt. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Tunbridge Central School teacher Stacey Lober helps Tunbridge students sixth-grader Evelyn Berry, left, and Iris Puchalik a fifth-grader saw a small stump while trail clearing in the Tunbridge Town Forest on Oct. 12, 2017. Students from Chelsea Public School and Tunbridge spent a week out of the classroom participating in place-based learning in Tunbridge, Vt. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Valley News photographs — Jennifer Hauck

Students from Tunbridge Central School and Chelsea Public School last week spent most of their study hours outside the classroom, as part of the fourth year of “place-based learning” under the “Curiositorium” and “First Branch Exploratorium” exchange programs.

In the Curiositorium at the Tunbridge Town Forest, fifth- and sixth-graders collaborated on such projects as constructing trails and shelters, cooking over open fires, making containers with natural materials and removing invasive plants. They also participated in a variety of team-building exercises, and heard from visiting wildlife experts such as raptor handlers from the Vermont Institute for Natural Science.

Under the Exploratorium, seventh- and eighth-graders from the schools chose from several elective programs, including a film-editing session with Tunbridge filmmaker John O’Brien at the CATV studios in White River Junction, and dabbled in 3D design and printing, cooking with local ingredients, portrait painting and performing the poetry of Shel Silverstein.

The program concluded on Friday afternoon at the Tunbridge school, with a showcase of the projects that students worked on.

— David Corriveau