CELC has a new home at 28 School Street in Stony Creek! Painting walls, building shelves, moving into our new space – we are excited about the possibilities.  Students will once again occupy the ‘Old School’ and we look forward to our learning adventures.  In our new location, CELC will continue to provide an outstanding middle school education for students grades 5 – 8, as well as offer other special events and workshops.

As an educational resource center for topics relating to young adolescents, CELC plans to host informational sessions for parents, fun family and kid-friendly programming, and will extend the student travel component of our program.  Stay tuned for news about our Open House to be scheduled for this fall.

Have a cannoli while learning about a Mexican “coyote”. CELC’s Immigration Extravaganza was a huge success! Students filled the James Blackstone Memorial Library’s auditorium with displays representing countries from around the world where large waves of immigration into the U.S.A. took place.  
Each student developed a persona to share the life story of this fictitious, yet historically accurate character, all based on months of research about particular countries of study. [Read more...]

Immigration Study Extravaganza

Connecticut Experiential Learning Center students’ year-long study of immigration will be celebrated Friday, 3 June from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. at the Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford.  Students will present a “living history museum” and become immigrants from a particular country of origin.   This event is free and open to the public.  Please join us for an interactive and creative experience that is both educational and lots of fun for all.   RSVP mandm@CTExperiential.org or call 203-215-2317. Click on this link for more information :  Immigration Study .

A Middle School Success Story

Find Out About CELC /  Middle School Matters.  Come to CT Experiential Learning Center’s June informational meeting to find out more about this exciting and innovative middle school program for students grades 5 – 8. Join us Monday, 6 June at 6:30 p.m. at the Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford. RSVP 203-215-2317 or email mandm@CTExperiential.org.  Registering now for 2011-2012.

Working with local ornithologist, Celia Lewis has brought CELC students into nature once again.  The Jared Eliott Preserve, part of the Guilford Conservation Land Trust property, offers a diverse range of habitats and a welcome place for birds, from migrants to cosmopolitans throughout the year.  Our students have been steadily collecting data to keep track of birds in this area.

Following are some impressions of this experience from one of our students:

When humans walk in the woods, nature hides.  Birds chirp, sticks crack, squirrels dash away.  Stay quiet, and it gets braver – not only birds, [Read more...]

We spend a lot of time outdoors.  To play, exercise, get fresh air, wonder, explore, and experience nature. Our weekly outdoor education classes are a highlight of the CELC program.  Students work with field biologists, ornithologists, environmental and adventure educators throughout the year and develop and deepen an appreciation for the natural world.  Recently, a bill was considered in our state government that could severely limit public use of hiking trails, town parks, and other lands owned by municipalities due to liability issues.

The CT Forest and Park Association led a campaign, asking citizens to speak out in favor of passing H.B. 6557 to allow municipalities the same protection against frivolous lawsuits that private organizations currently are guaranteed as it relates to land use.   CELC students composed heartfelt letters (see below), which they sent to Senator Meyer, in participation of having their [Read more...]

A classroom out of doors is a common occurrence at CELC.  Along with “recess”, students have two outdoor education classes each week.  The Japanese culture has a term for being outdoors – “forest bathing” – and it is based on the idea that simply being outside in nature is a healing experience.  Students run, breathe deeply, explore and observe.  Nature can bring surprises, maybe we’ll see a fox, and definitely awakens one’s sense of wonder.  Last Thursday CELCers worked with Lucy Meigs, founder/director of Everyone Outside.  She has a background in geology and natural sciences. This particular day, students used a map and compass to plot a course to find a vernal pool in the Timberland Woods Trails in Guilford. Along the way, we got a bit lost, observed animal tracks in the snow, and tried to tell the different between scat and owl pellets that were found along the trail.  So invigorating, it is truly a gift to be able to be in the woods; this is a nature’s classroom.

CELC students met with Civil Rights legend Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr. during an event that was co-sponsored by Connecticut Central State University and the Connecticut Center for Nonviolence.  This event entitled Continuing King’s Work of Nonviolence: Confronting Injustice Then and Now – A Conversation with Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Jr., Civil Rights Legend took place on Friday, 11 February on the CCSU campus.

[Read more...]

At Connecticut Experiential Learning Center (CELC)  a small group of students certainly find truth in the age-old adage “variety is the spice of life.” Young adolescents can thrive and be happy in ‘school’.

Friday, for example, we met in Branford and enjoyed our morning yoga class overlooking the Branford River and Long Island Sound from Parker Memorial Park at Branford Point Beach.  The beauty of the day was so spectacular that we stayed and had our Spelling/Vocabulary class in the same location.

[Read more...]

“Who’s on poppy seed and who’s on toffee triangles?”  begins our Why Cook? class, which takes place on Friday mornings at Connecticut Experiential Learning Center.  Students gather around a dining room table that is filled with an assortment of bowls, measuring cups, and wet and dry ingredients.

After reading the recipes, students discuss what they now know about what is needed.  As students share their understanding of the recipes they are about to produce, a lot of discussion related to cooking chemistry takes place, such as what happens when the fat of the butter meets up with the granulated sugar, what color changes to look for, proper aerating of egg whites, and why it is helpful to separate eggs when they are cold but bring them to room-temperature to maximize their volume. [Read more...]

CELC students with Senator Ed Meyer

What a way to learn!

Connecticut Experiential Learning Center (CELC) middle-school students saw and heard first-hand how government works when they spent a day in Hartford, meeting state senators and representatives, attending legislative sessions, observing what it’s like to run the state. Receiving standing ovations from both chambers for their enthusiasm and participation, the day topped off with an ice cream social with the CT Farm Bureau.

CELC gives its students these kinds of experiences regularly, as the most effective way to learn.

[Read more...]