Pequot Lakes Middle School had the opportunity to bring 140 of our sixth grade students to Long Lake Conservation Center in Palisade during the first week of November.
This fifth annual field trip is due in large part to the amazing support present in the Pequot Lakes Public Schools community.
The trip to Long Lake provided our students with an opportunity to immerse themselves in environmental education topics. With a focus on phenology, the study of the timing and cyclical patterns of events in the natural world, our students were able to walk amongst the transition from fall to early winter in central Minnesota.
Students learned about our Indigenous people and our ecosystems on an up-close and hands-on level. Activities such as drinking water from the sphagnum moss on the Bog Walk, creating nature art with their peers, fire starting, archery and building survival structures are all activities that we cannot replicate in the traditional school setting.
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On top of the outdoor curriculum, our kids also enjoyed the team-building aspects of dormitory life, “family-style” meals and even Kitchen Patrol duties. Having spent approximately 30 hours together, we learned a lot about one another!
Mother Nature blessed our group with some phenomenal weather, which allowed us to send all of our kids into canoes, and we even had an amazing northern lights display.
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None of this would have happened without our funding partners. We are grateful for the overwhelming support demonstrated by these local nonprofit organizations: Pelican Lake Association and Ideal Community Service Organization, along with our very own Patriot parents, who paid for scholarships to make sure every student has equal access to this experience.
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This trip is a great representation of the effective use of charitable gambling funds within our region and a reflection of our community’s value of environmental stewardship. We are so fortunate to have a community that is vested in giving back to our schools.
As always, PLMS is feeling truly blessed to be a part of a school district that values experiential education and our community partnerships. Thank you to those who have contributed to our trip and helped our students to appreciate the natural world around them.
Mike O’Neil is the Pequot Lakes Middle School principal.