CELC students this week were introduced to and became inspired by Greta Thunberg, a young activist working to bring together people around the science of climate change and now toward finding ways to take action affecting change and solving the problems of climate change. CELCers also participated in The International Student Carbon Footprint Challenge (ISCFC), [...]
Beginning a year at CELC involves building community. We devote the first weeks of the year getting to know one another, learning about individual strengths, challenges, hopes and dreams. As well, collaborative and teambuilding activities actively engage students in working together toward a common goal. A bridge-building challenge includes learning about civil engineering, bridge [...]
CELC’s Honoring Ceremony is a special time when students are recognized for their achievements and their year of learning and growth. This year’s celebration took place at Cedar Island Marina, thanks to the family of graduate Nick, now moving on to The Sound School, where he will begin as a freshman Fall 2019. It was [...]
Getting ready for a new academic year at CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) is a magical time. In addition to planning for academic classes, where students will take on challenges in different subject areas, we schedule field experiences, guest artists, and student travel. These set the tone, energy, and nuance that shape the year’s [...]
Each year, CELC parents receive a "secret" envelope containing a blank red heart with the following instructions: This Envelope is ONLY for Parents!! A SECRET Valentine's Day Activity for CELC Parents Please do not tell your student about this so that s/he can have a grand surprise on 14 FEB ! The heart in this [...]
And it's only Week One at CELC - already we've done much, including: math challenge games, Why Cook? class; Project Water field study; team building at Bushy Hill Nature Center; migratory bird study and field experience; Spanish class Skype into Guatemala; creative exploration of individual and group "hopes and dreams" for the year; and getting started on [...]
Friday at Connecticut Experiential Learning Center: Thank you, Evan DeCarlo, for working with our student writers. Thank you, Daniela Balzano, for your creative energy in bringing art to our CELC world! Gentle mindfulness and 108 Monkeys Yoga at CELC inspires students to breathe and be! CELC students visit Dinosaur State Park to learn about Connecticut’s landscape and how it was [...]
Launch of another CELC year – quite profound to consider how much we’ve already experienced and learned in just this first month! Building community, the start of academic classes, a week spent in Salisbury, Vermont at the Keewaydin Environmental Education Center, thematic study of Ecology and Sustainability, visit to the Abbey of Regina Laudis, [...]
Working with local environmental educator and ornithologist Dr. Celia Lewis, CELC Middle School students utilize the outdoors as their classroom! Pictured here, students are analyzing data from yearlong investigation of shore birds within the Farm River Watershed. CELC Middle School believes in the power of learning through experience. One of the requirements [...]
Each year CELC has a theme that takes on a life of its own throughout the year, culminating with the writing of formal research papers and creating elaborate displays that showcase the work and learning of each student. This year’s theme “Ancient to Modern Civilizations” includes research about ancient Japan, San Bushmen of the Kalahari, [...]
The Acton Public Library held Poetry Night Wednesday, April 26, at 7 p.m. concluded its 23rd Annual Poetry Competition. Winning poets read their compositions and received their awards. The evening, celebrating National Poetry Month and the poets’ prizes, was sponsored by the Friends of Acton Library. All submitted poems are on display in the library through May 2017. [...]
Early Spring Gardening Hiking Judges Cave with Common Ground Nature Center Students work with Partnering Artist In Residence from Long Wharf Theater Education Program Water testing with Whitney Water Center at Roger's Mill Pond
Often middle school-aged students arrive at CELC having being taught division but lack solid understanding of division. All too often, students are asked to memorize algorithms without grasping how the steps relate to the concept at hand. When students work with math manipulatives, such as base ten blocks, Cuisenaire rods, fraction strips, etc., or draw [...]
Thank you to CELC's partnering organizations Bushy Hill Nature Center and Long Wharf Theatre's Education Department - students get much out of these experiences!
Each week CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) Middle School offers rich and exciting learning experiences, including both indoor and outdoor classrooms! Week of 24 – 28 October included data collection and analysis of water quality along the Mill River with Whitney Water Center’s Project Water. This was the culminating field experience that followed an introductory [...]
For this experientially-based middle school, the first weeks include building community, delving into thematic study (this year’s theme Ancient to Modern Civilizations), and of course exploration and field experiences. The learning from the get-go abounds with rich opportunity for growth and discovery. Pictured below are some of September’s learning adventures at CELC thus far. These [...]
First days back in session bring for students a Spanish class with native-speaking instructor Señora Castillo, living-history lesson with Mae Gibson Brown as she shared her experience growing up African American in West Virginia during the 1930s, harvesting and wood splitting on a local organic farm, meeting and sharing with local news journalist Pam Johnson, [...]
According to the Cyberbullying Research Center, over 28% of boys and 40% of adolescent girls report being victims of cyberbullying. What would you do if you knew someone being cyberbullied? You might see it affecting whole life, happiness, and wellbeing. Two girls from CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) Middle School in Branford, CT decided to [...]
CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) is designed to bring students outside their comfort zones! Seeing and doing brand new things and then having the once “new” become “the familiar” allows for real transformation and growth. We see it over and over again. It is always incredible to witness students broadening their perspectives and becoming more [...]
Students arrive to the recipe they would delve into in for Why Cook? class; this week it is Chicken Pot Pie. Using raw ingredients and cooking from “scratch”, the morning includes making pastry crust, roux, and all the chopping of vegetables they were able to manage! The room soon fills with home cooked aroma! After [...]
A CELC student collaborative piece Have you ever wondered how to make the perfect chicken pot pie? We have and in our quest for the best pie possible, we learned some things that we think could help you on your journey to perfect pie-dom. The first thing to know about the crust is this. When [...]
Thank you to Peter Sikes of Shoreline Pixels for taking a fine spherical photograph of a day in the life at CELC! Check it out here: spherical
Thank you to Ken Mackenzie of Frogurt Time Guilford for hosting a student-curated Art Show with the students of CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) Middle School of Branford in collaboration with EducArte, a school in Antigua, Guatemala. All proceeds from the sale of student artwork are in support of EducArte, an organization that provides education [...]
Art, as expression and experience. Middle school students from CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) Middle School work with local artist Daniela Balzano to foster an appreciation of public art as a means of expression and collaboration. “Public art is free. Spectators don’t need to dress in their best or buy tickets. It’s available to everyone, [...]
The small schools movement is building momentum throughout the country. Students receive a personalized education and take advantage of a variety of unique opportunities. James Blackstone Memorial Library made available its Maker Lab for just such an opportunity. Two small schools, CT Experiential Learning Center (CELC) Middle School of Branford and FlexSchool of Fanwood, New Jersey, [...]
