SPRING 2019
NEW USES FOR HUNT LODGE, PBC’S 90-YEAR-OLD GEM students used the space to work as crime scene investigators and learn about the chemical reactions that enable fireflies to light up. This spring, our facilities team repainted all the trim, shelves, and doors, and put down a new tile floor. Hunt Lodge’s microscopes, telescopes, and pond and stream exploration kits allow students to head outside to explore our 264acre campus day or night to identify invertebrates, find Orion in the night sky, identify mushrooms and salamanders, measure the depth of Bass Lake, or gather leaves to make leaf rubbings. Program staff and NRG Energy volunteers have created kits and flash cards to take out into the field. For many of our students, it is their first time experiencing hands-on learning, and seeing how fun science can be! Some of the comments we received over the past year include: “I felt so in touch with nature.” “I’ve never been able to explore nature like this before or unplug from my devices.” Children explore in the newly revamped Hunt Lodge, April 2019.
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hen you have 264 acres of woodlands, complete with a lake, stream, rocky gorge, and waterfall located five miles from the Delaware River and 2.5 miles from the 70,000-acre Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, you have a rare gem. The Princeton-Blairstown Center’s (PBC) site is a stunning property that is perfect for all kinds of exploration, scientific inquiry, and observation of critters big and small. Over the past year, the Center’s program and facilities staff have reimagined and refurbished Hunt Memorial Lodge. Named after Princeton professor Theodore W. Hunt (Class of 1865), a beloved faculty member who bequeathed $9,500 for its construction in 1931, the Lodge was built shortly after the Princeton Summer Camp moved from Bayhead to Blairstown. Since then, Hunt Lodge has served as a retreat space for Princeton University faculty and their families, classroom space, and indoor program space on rainy days.
With the addition of our Summer Bridge Program and more school groups coming to the Center during the spring and fall, the idea to turn Hunt Lodge into an environmental education center emerged. The main room houses five laboratory tables that can each seat a team of four students working together on a range of STEM and STEAM projects. Program staff set up a series of learning stations that focus on native flora and fauna. A touch table full of bones and skins (faux) of mammals found on the property captivates our students. Several aquariums allow staff to catch and release fish and amphibians so that students can enjoy an up-close view. Thanks to one of our talented Princeton University Community Action arts groups, the room now has a beautiful chalk board wall with an inspiring mural.
“I loved splashing around in the stream looking for critters.” “Seeing the stars at night for the first time was magical.” “We learned about the freezing point and how to make ice cream.” All of this is only possible because of you! Your gift allows us to continue to upgrade our nearly 90-year-old gem, Hunt Lodge, and stock it with equipment so that our students can explore our 264 acres of near-pristine woodlands. Every donation you make allows us to teach kids that learning can be fun, and exposes them to experiences that might encourage them to consider careers in STEM. Thank you, and please give generously! With gratitude,
The old kitchen has been reimagined as a Sarah Tantillo, Ed.D. classroom space that contains a gently used Board Chair conference table that can seat a group of 12 students and their chaperones. Last summer,
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