“When day comes we ask ourselves,

Where can we find light in this never-ending shade?”

-Amanda Gorman, United States first-ever youth poet laureate

One of the highlights of my service as a NESS SEA AmeriCorps member is serving every other week at the Drop-In Learning Center in New London. The current group of students we serve at the Center range from kindergarten to fifth grade all mixed together, making it a super energetic and fun bunch to be around. Typically our programs run for about an hour and include a range of STEM activities that are planned by AmeriCorps members.

With a snowy day on our side we planned to take students outside to engineer snow volcanoes, yes snow volcanoes. With a major switch over the last year to virtual online learning, there is more emphasis than ever before to get kids outside. However, online learning schedules along with the challenges of winter weather don’t always make it easy. Unfortunately, we were informed prior to the program that we would not be able to take the group outside. We were stumped. And then we had an idea: if we couldn’t take the kids outside, we could certainly bring it to them! The warmth of the classroom and student excitement enveloped us as we lugged buckets of snow up the stairs and into the classroom.

First, students constructed a funnel with paper to assist them as they precariously poured baking soda into an empty water bottle and then added about a teaspoon of dish soap. Next, students worked together to pack snow into the shape of a volcano and placed their water bottle in the center of the volcano- all in a self-contained shallow bucket- don’t worry. Some groups chose to build little towns of Legos wedged into the sides of their volcano, with only a hunch of the danger soon to follow. Once construction finished, they poured the vinegar into the water bottle and watched the chemical reaction occur as “lava” bubbles erupted out of the volcano, burying their small Lego towns.

In education we talk more about what we’re teaching our students and less about what they teach us. The students I work with are more resilient than I could have ever imagined being at their age.  As we move forward through the challenges we face in this pandemic, I only hope we continue to take in what they have to teach us and together, adjust accordingly.

By: Colleen Dollard aka Tropikat, NESS SEA AmeriCorps Member