Wakefield Estate’s Collaboration with BPS Highlighted

The Wakefield Estate’s recent work and collaboration with Luis Arroyo, Science Specialist at Boston Public’s Charles Taylor School in Mattapan was the highlight of this year’s Boston Youth Environmental Networks annual showcase held October 29th. Mr. Arroyo was the featured speaker at the gathering of over 200 teachers and environmental education professionals held each year at the law offices of Wilmer Hale. Sharing pictures of his students exploring science during their trips to estate, Arroyo described the innovative approach to environmental learning that has grown out of his collaboration with the Wakefield Trust. For the past two years, Arroyo has worked with the estate’s educational coordinator, Erica Max, to bring every student at the Taylor School out for field experiences in the fall and spring. Grants from Boston After School and Beyond’s Get Out and Learn Initiative have funded the buses for these trips. Staff and interns from the Wakefield Estate have also worked at the school to help create an outdoor classroom, so that concepts discussed at the estate can be revisited back on the school grounds. During the 2009-10 school year, over 500 students from the Taylor school visited twice, with many returning again this fall to build further on the first-hand science explored.