Author: news
Art in a Changing Climate
April 28, 2016By Christina Catanese, Director of Environmental Art
Bill McKibben wrote, in a 2005 essay on climate change and art, “But oddly, though we know about it, we don’t know about it. It hasn’t registered in our gut; it isn’t part of our culture. Where are the books? The poems? The plays? The goddamn operas?”
Climate change is abstract, cognitively complex, with no clear single villain; dialogue around climate change often induces self-defensiveness, the steps needed to respond require long time horizons, and many of the victims are distant, in either space or time. More so than many other environmental issues,…
Earth Day: Become 1 of the 1 Billion Participants
April 21, 2016By Mike Weilbacher, Executive Director
This Friday, April 22, marks the return of Earth Day—and check this out—on that day, estimates are that one billion people from 200 nations will mark the day. Earth Day has quietly emerged as the largest secular holiday worldwide with the exception of New Year’s Day.
And this year’s edition will be even more newsworthy, as many countries will begin signing the groundbreaking Paris climate change treaty that day at the UN in New York.
As big as it is, Philadelphia played a key role in Earth Day’s birth. (more…)
Children Need Nature: Cultivating Connections at Nature Preschool
March 30, 2016By Shannon Wise, Nature Preschool Manager
Children Need Nature is a monthly blog column from our Nature Preschool program. Read more posts here.
At Nature Preschool, the foundation of community is vital to building a positive learning experience for the children. We value the relationships among families, children, and school. We invite our families and friends (from Schuylkill Center, Kinder Academy, and neighboring schools) throughout the year to share their talents, read stories, or participate in art activities to strengthen the bond and build comfort and trust among all of us. This spring, our preschoolers enjoyed many visits to meet new brothers…
Why we’re excited for spring
March 21, 2016By Anna Lehr Mueser, Public Relations Manager
Happy spring! On March 20, despite a sprinkling of snow, the year officially turned from winter to spring! So, why are our staff excited for spring?
Gail, our Director of Education loves seeing the rise of skunk cabbage on the late winter forest floor.
Mike, our Executive Director, explains, “I love so many individual critters for so many different reasons, but one I especially adore is the blackpoll warbler. If warbler migration is a parade of colors, the blackpoll is the tramp clown at the end of the circus parade, mopping up after…
Time + Art, Part 2: As an Anniversary Approaches
March 16, 2016By Catalina Lassen, Art + PR Intern
As spring bounds in again, another year has come and gone, and almost a year has passed since our LandLab artists in residence installed a variety of exciting environmentally minded artworks last April. This cycle of a year signifies not only an anniversary, but is also a reminder of the changes that have occurred during the time in-between. As far as the art of LandLab goes, the works have been activated by nature, shifting as the seasons do. Back in November we took a look at the progress of one of these installations,…
The Water Crisis in Flint Focuses Attention on Lead Poisoning Here
March 14, 2016By Mike Weilbacher, Executive Director
The unfolding tragedy of lead in Flint, Michigan’s drinking water has riveted the world’s attention on the issue, and even as I write this last Friday, the story continues to evolve, as hundreds of Michiganders were then marching on the statehouse demanding that Governor Rick Snyder resign.
And it makes all of us think twice before we turn on our own taps. (more…)
Help our Wildlife Clinic Make it through the Spring
March 10, 2016By Mike Weilbacher, Executive Director
There are so many signs of spring. Here at the Schuylkill Center, skunk cabbage and lesser celandine, the latter a bright yellow flower, are already in bloom. A pair of bluebirds, the male an impossible shade of blue, examined nesting boxes last week, clearly house hunting, and a pair of Canada geese returned to Fire Pond, likely the same pair that raise their young here every spring.
The running of the toads across Port Royal Avenue is another benchmark here in Roxborough, but the toads have not awakened yet. Fear not: they are coming soon!…
SCH Academy Kindergarten partners with the Schuylkill Center
March 4, 2016By guest contributor Caitlin Sweeney, Kindergarten Teacher, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy
Springside Chestnut Hill Academy offers a variety of unique programs and student opportunities through The Sands Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL). CEL teaches entrepreneurial skills to prepare students for the ever-changing world ahead of them. Entrepreneurial skills are developed by channeling a child’s natural desire to learn by doing. Children are asked to look both locally and globally to solve problems by applying design thinking, collaboration, and financial literacy skills, as well as new media technologies.
Kindergarten’s CEL project this year was paired with our annual Animals in Winter unit. For this unit, each…
Children Need Nature: Nature Preschool Bread and Soup Night
March 3, 2016By Shannon Wise, Nature Preschool Manager
The winter is a time when many families cozy up indoors and enjoy quality time with one another. At the Nature Preschool, of course, we still venture out onto the with the children each day, asking questions and exploring the winter environment. This winter, the children from the Sweet Gums, Sycamores, and Sassafras rooms all wondered, “What do animals do to adapt?” This has been a common topic of interest at this time of the year and we were especially excited to build off of this for our main winter family event, Bread and…
Do I have your attention?
February 19, 2016By Gail Farmer, Director of Education
My son is in first grade and he is struggling. Struggling to sit still, struggling to be quiet, and struggling to give his teacher the long periods of undivided attention the schools are asking of our young children. His teacher has employed several positive strategies to try and help him meet the school district’s needs: he has a “wiggly seat” on his chair that helps him to stay in his seat, she has star charts for attending to the teacher, and most recently, a star chart to reward being “calm and quiet.” While I…
