Shifting Ground

by Chris Hubbard, Education Director

The world shifted under our feet in mid-March. As we were poised and ready to hold numerous Sap to Syrup programs and with our MFFC/NGSS School Partnership program scheduled and ready to go, schools began to cancel field trips, ultimately closing for the year. National and state emergency orders were put into place, and people were asked to “Stay Home, Stay Safe.” Our spring education season was not going to be business as usual. For an organization that is focused on experiential, hands-on learning, we were facing a major shift in how we delivered content.

Realizing that going digital was the best way to reach out to the wider world, we began producing our “Nearby Nature” video series, which were uploaded onto our Facebook page and our website, and populated into a newly launched YouTube channel (info Merck Forest). These videos range in topic from nature journaling and phenology to vernal pools and moss and lichen. Our goal was to give students content they would enjoy and learn from and allow them to go into their own backyards to explore the natural world.

Our annual Meet the Lambs became a digital celebration, as we sought to bring the joys of spring and new lambs to the wider world. Videos of wooly lambs, strutting chickens, pond explorations, and our mighty machines were rolled out the day of, and those videos continue to be available for viewing. The technical challenges of a remote landscape were overcome, and we were able to provide a livestream of our youngest lambs. Our reach for our digital version of Meet the Lambs proved to be more widespread than the number of visitors we typically see for that event.

The tide is beginning to turn, and we’re slowly opening up for programming. Our efforts in the digital realm have slowed, as we concentrate on visitors coming back onto the property, with early morning bird walks, our new “Meet and Feed”, a wilderness first aid course, and chainsaw safety courses. As we move into summer, we’ll be adding our summer camps and our Thursday Farm Chores. What this fall will bring is anyone’s guess. We do know that Vermont schools are scheduled to reopen in the fall.

Digital content can’t take the place of hands-on experiences, but it can certainly supplement them. As we move forward, we’ll be exploring how we can support teachers as they move into a new world of social distancing, how we can incorporate our public events with digital content, and how we can reach a wider audience that goes beyond those who are able to come and visit us up on the mountain. As people are being urged to “stay local” this summer, I invite you to explore our digital content and explore what is in your backyard, since nature is closer than you may think.