Earth Spirit cofounder Sanford Geffner, shown with students in Park’s 2002 yearbook Earth Spirit program director and Park campus resident Jon Roth guides kindergartners over the marsh The Park School and Earth Spirit have been coordinating programs together for nearly 40 years. In the early days of our relationship, our organization was brought in to conduct various environmental programs for students through elementary teacher Sister Maryann Kolb. After several years of programming with her students, Earth Spirit cofounder Herb Burgasser and I proposed a more extensive, curriculum-based program for the entire Lower School. My earliest records for these curriculum-based programs date back to 1991. At that time, I remember collaborating with some wonderful teachers as we created a yearlong curriculum for each grade level involving about six programs for each class with specific environmental themes. These teachers, who helped lay the groundwork for the next 35 years, included Andrea Frankfort, Maria Hegedus, Carol Vago, Sister Maryann, and Colleen Lambros. This was Earth Spirit’s first all-school Environmental Curriculum. Since those early years, our programs with Park have evolved tremendously. Programs gradually expanded to include PreK through Grade 12. Through changing faculties and administrations, the Environmental Curriculum has persisted and grown. In recent years, Earth Spirit has also been a part of Park’s Immersion program, as we have led students on exciting adventures to Yellowstone National Park, Everglades National Park, and some special local field trips. Throughout the years, Earth Spirit has also offered numerous public programs for the community at Park, including maple sugaring events, community snowshoe hikes, owl howls, and ecology adventures. The opportunities are endless at Park’s beautiful campus. Earth Spirit staff have also been available for service projects. We have assisted with management plans, building boardwalks and teaching platforms, cutting trails, analyzing habitats, and consulting on wetlands projects. And now, Park has its own naturalist-in-residence, as Jon Roth, our Director of Education and Development, lives in the Stone House. Earth Spirit has a new headquarters, and Park has a skilled partner to help oversee the grounds. We've been honored to be a part of the Park School family. We've shared many good lessons with your students and, in turn, have learned much through the process ourselves. We hope that our mutual efforts through the years have helped make Park a special and unique place for students to learn, grow, and become responsible members of this community and beyond. And, as always, we look forward to many new and unique adventures in the years ahead. 16 “Thanks to Earth Spirit and nearly 25 years of teaching at Park, I’ve learned that Mother Nature always makes sense.” - Lisa Wood, Grade 2 teacher Earth Spirit at Park by Sanford Geffner, Cofounder/Director, Earth Spirit Educational Services
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