Colrain Central

Every other year, our 5th and 6th grade students have the amazing opportunity to spend a week at an environmental camp. This year we will be going to Nature's Classroom, Yarmouth. Many of our students have never left the state of Massachusetts or been to a city, much less seen the ocean. We charter a bus for the week and leave early on a Monday morning. For the week that we are there, we will explore the ocean and other biomes that we don't see in the hills of Western Massachusetts. We will also be going on a whale watch!

This is an amazing experience for them to learn about the environment and be able to explore areas that are unfamiliar to them. Additionally, they learn a great deal about themselves and their classmates. Back in the classroom, students continue to make connections to the trip, whether it is in understanding current events, history, diversity, or even math.

Students talk about the trip for years afterwards. In fact, we have parents of our students that went on this trip and still remember it fondly. They attest to what a profound impact it had on their lives.

We work hard to make this trip as inexpensive as possible. Teachers do all of the planning and organizing. We do a lot of comparison shopping for everything from buses to environmental school location. However, the cost of the entire trip will be approximately $13,000.

46% of our school community is on free and reduced lunch. We do not require anyone to pay for the trip. We ask families to pay in full, partially pay, or fundraise for the trip. We usually have about 25% of the families who pay in full and another 25% who partially pay. Parents and staff work hard to fundraise all year, whether they are paying for the trip or not.

Please help us to make this trip possible in 2018! Our students cannot wait for the opportunity to visit Nature's Classroom and explore the world beyond our small town.