Blog, Events•
on January 25th, 2012•
CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) launched a Water Science Series in conjunction with the Whitney Water Center to benefit LifeStraw®. On 9 January, 2012, Peter Cleary, Communications Director with Vestergaard Frandsen, Incorporated – the company that created LifeStraw® – visited the Whitney Water Center to speak with students and families about its work to save lives. 
Brett Leckey, a 10-year old who initiated his own project devoted to LifeStraw®, also spoke about his fundraising efforts to better peoples’ lives throughout the world. Following the presentation, students attended a water science class entitled The Magic of Microscopy.
CELC students’ impressions about the event:
Millions of children gone everyday due to waterborne sickness. The trees that fell one by one to make a fire for boiling water. There was little hope for Kenya until the Vestergaard Frandsen company made a creation that won many awards, including 2000’s best invention.
This lifesaver is called LifeStraw®. It is a straw about the length of a pencil and the width of your thumb. LifeStraw® filters 99.9% of the read more
Blog, Events•
on January 4th, 2012•
Join in the CELC Science Fair
to be held Thursday, 8 March 2012
The CELC Science Fair is open to students of all ages and will take place
from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. on 8 March 2012.
Cost for entry is a donation in any amount to LifeStraw®.
Come to an initial informational meeting on Tuesday, 10 January at CELC HQ (28 School Street, Branford CT) from 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. Receive materials and guidelines, plus answers to any of your questions before getting started.
Projects submitted to the CELC science fair must be brought to CELC for set-up at 8 a.m. Thursday, 8 March.
There will be additional opportunities for work-sessions/group tutorials will be available for work on aspects of the projects/posters, etc. from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Mondays: 30 January, 13 and 27 February
Contact Melinda to register and for more information:
mandm@ctexperiential.org
or call 203-433-4658 / 203-215-2317
Blog, Events•
on December 11th, 2011•
These days, being outdoors is not considered by many kids as place to go to spend their time. Being plugged in to a wireless device is more the trend. “I like to play indoors better, because that’s where all the electrical outlets are,” said a fourth-grader quoted in the book Last Child in the Woods, in which author Richard Louv coins the term “nature deficit disorder.”
Outdoor education takes many forms at CELC. The “outdoor education class” happens twice per week for two hours at a time. We work with environmental educators such as Ranger Russ at Meigs Point Nature Center, do a lot of hiking, letterboxing, winter skiing, work on an organic farm, kayaking, and lots more. In addition to being a time to learn and be in nature, outdoor education also incorporates physical education. Playing basketball in a gym, bowling, or doing yoga are all possible activities. We play each day, no matter what the weather – call it recess or just being outside – after noon meal, CELCers run around outdoors. They may toss a football, play guitar, or build forts in the woods. read more
Blog, Events•
on November 30th, 2011•
A rich and full learning experience, while par for the course, is not to be taken for granted. At times, I become reflective and take pause to notice what we do from day-to-day, week-to-week at CELC. Yesterday for example, Monday, although typical of the CELC way, was not just any ordinary Monday!
Students arrive and get to the business of a Literature Circle class. Opening their copies of Huck Finn, they read, prepare for the literature circle roles, and quiz each other on the vocabulary for the upcoming test (all 80 words, in context, to be dynamically presented in a written evaluation in a couple of weeks).
One math class pursues understanding decimals and the magnitude of the applications, while another group works on algebraic equations and measures of central tendency. Then, in keeping with our theme of Exploration and Discovery, we engage in a “passion project” presentation on football.
With the idea that any explorer or discoverer began with some seed of inspiration, CELCers take to our study by exploring their passions and then design a way to share with the class in a hands-on way.
read more
Blog, Events•
on November 2nd, 2011•
CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) brings internationally-known ethnomusicologist Emilia Biancardi from Salvador, Bahia to New Haven on Monday, 7 November to share with students from CELC, Coop High School, and Yale College her knowledge of the music of Brazil in an interactive way.
Emilia Biancardi is known as one of the foremost authorities on the folkloric music and culture of Brazil. She pioneered the recognition of this music as an art form, performing it on stages all over the world. Her long awaited book The Musical Roots of Bahia was published in 2000. Emilia has been musical director for many folkloric programs in the Pelhourino district of Salvador. Her collection of traditional musical instruments from around the world is on permanent exhibition in Salvador, under the direction of the Museums of Bahia. She is also co-founder, along with Gerilyn Greco, of “Iabas” – an all-women’s Brazilian folkloric band based in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York.
At this workshop, Emilia will discuss the history of the music of Bahia, read more
Blog, Events•
on October 28th, 2011•
Not rain, nor sleet, nor wind, nor hail…
Will stop the CELCers from delivering the….
I mean “working in the garden”
You all are troopers. I hope no one gets sickly. That was important stuff you did yesterday. And now with snow on the way, even more so. It gives me the motivation and momentum to finish. Thanks for coming to the aid of your senior citizen farmer friends.
I can come by someday next week to chat about sustainable living. And read my piece about the sweet potato harvest.
Give me a few options for time. Tues and Fri N/G for me.
When Eileen asked if she could share her knowledge of the
ancient origins of Halloween, she gave us plenty to think about as we approach this holiday, along with stories based on
graveyard legends from New Haven’s past – such a history to the Halloween that we now know!
Blog, Events•
on September 29th, 2011•
Water is one of our most precious — and endangered — natural resources. The Regional Water Authority’s Whitney Water Center offers environmental education programs to show people, especially kids, how their actions can affect the quality of the region’s water resources. Using engaging hands-on activities and experiments, students learn how human actions on land affect the quality of the region’s water resources.
CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) will launch our Water Science Series in conjunction with the Whitney Water Center on Monday, 28 November. Peter Cleary, Communications Director with Vestergaard Frandsen, Incorporated – the company that created LifeStraw® – will visit CELC in Branford to speak with students and families about its work to save lives. Brett Leckey, a 10-year old who initiated his own project devoted to LifeStraw®, will also speak about his fundraising efforts to better peoples’ lives throughout the world.
All participants of the Water Science Classes please join us for this exciting presentation/lunch gathering that will begin our series. Bring a lunch and arrive for 11:30 a.m. to be followed by the presentations at noon. The first Water Science Class will then commence from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. See you all on Monday, 28 November starting at 11:30 a.m. at 28 School Street, Branford, CT. This special event is open to the public with a donation to LifeStraw®. read more
Blog, Events•
on September 16th, 2011•
As part of our Outdoor Education program, students work on an organic farm known as Trap Rock Ridge Camp (a.k.a. Rob and Sally’s). 
Here is a note from Rob regarding our first visit of the year :
Hi CELCers Young and Old,
Thank you for a wonderful visit to our place yesterday. You all worked like you had been here many times before. I’m always amazed at how much gets done in two hours.
I hope you enjoyed yourselves while you were here. Today I will start digging sweet taters. They do not like to sit around in cool soil. And, thanks to you, we can have a fire in our fireplace tonight.
Next time you come I hope to make baked potatoes on the grill as part of your lunch. Interested??
read more
Blog, Events•
on May 29th, 2011•
What an amazing journey! Please view our travel log and also read on for more about CELC’s sailing adventure:
Greetings from Boundless! This is the life, and we are already deciding to give up on being landlubbers and take to the seas, travel the world.
As the adventure begins aboard Boundless with Captain Jeff and First Mate Janine, CELCers are having quite an extraordinary time!
Each day students perform jobs that enable them to learn to “run the boat”. Today, Jenna served as Captain for the Day and provided us with data, including wind direction, weather conditions, barometric pressure, and our latitude and longitude in degrees, minutes and seconds. 
read more
Blog, Events•
on April 18th, 2011•
Tradition! Each year at Wightwood School classes from kindergarten through 8th grade had a year-end adventure. The kindergarten stayed overnight in the school building, each student accompanied by a parent, who would arrive to school on that Friday with pajamas, sleeping bag, favorite stuffed animal friend, and the anticipation of possibly a first-ever sleepover thrill. The 2/3-grade class pitched tents and camped for two nights at Trap Rock Ridge Camp, better known as Rob’s house. These were the start of memories that last a lifetime, from traveling to the Abbey of Regina Laudis, roasting hot dogs and s’mores at the campfire to hearing Rob tell the Leatherman story, complete with details that entertained, taught, and even one year offered a “live” visit by this historic figure.
These trips away were a chance for students to bond in a way other than what could happen inside a classroom. Traveling allows a person to get to know himself as well as learn to work with others, together discovering possibilities that arise from novelty and the spirit of adventure.
When Maria and I began the CT Experiential Learning Center, after Wightwood closed its doors, we knew from our years as middle school teachers that student travel adds a dimension to learning that was perfectly developmentally appropriate for the young adolescent who is in a process of self-discovery, craves independence, and still tends to play and be curious when given the occasion.
While we also do a lot of moving about in the world with students as a regular part of our read more
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