Students at Dr. Weeks Elementary School in the Syracuse City School District got a head start to summer fun and learning when Baltimore Woods Nature Center’s Nature in the City program,

National Grid employees visited classrooms on June 20 to distribute 664 Summer STEM Exploration Kits to every kindergarten through fifth-grade student.

Designed to extend the experiences students gained during their Nature in the City lessons this school year, each backpack included activity guides and tools to explore and connect to nature right in their own backyards and neighborhoods outside the classroom.

The immediate favorite items in the kits were tools to get an up-close look at plants or insects including a magnifying glass for all K-2 classrooms and a hand microscope for grades 3-5. With tailored activity guides and a nature journal with pencil and pencil sharpener, students will be able to record their favorite experiences and get creative in capturing the sights, sounds, and questions that each new discovery cultivates.

When receiving their Summer STEM Exploration Kit, one fifth-grade student at Dr. Weeks shared that going outside during Nature in the City was one of his favorite parts of school.

“Throughout the school year, we head outside to explore local greenspaces as student scientists and take an in-depth look at urban nature when the Baltimore Woods Nature in  the City program visits each K-5th grade classroom across the Syracuse City School District for three, one-hour hands-on/minds-on lessons,” shared Whitney Lash-Marshall, executive director of Baltimore Woods Nature Center. “The chance to see the world in a different way, such as with binoculars or through a magnifier, creates experiences that stay with students long past elementary school. These kits were a perfect way to help students continue to cultivate that love of the world around them.”

Now in its 22nd year, Nature in the City continues to connect students to nature in their community by using local examples to make direct links to the science curriculum. National Grid has been a supporter of the program for 15 of those years, this year supporting the delivery of three, one-hour lessons for all K-5th grade students at Dr. Weeks Elementary School as one of their partner schools.

Looking for a way to take the program impacts and expand them beyond the school year, the idea for a STEM-inspired summer exploration kit was born. Not only did National Grid fund the kits, National Grid staff put in hours of volunteer time packing them, including the addition of a new STEM-themed book selected to connect to their science units by grade level.

“Though the school year is coming to a close, young people’s curiosity doesn’t take the summer off,” said Alberto Bianchetti, regional director of customer and external affairs for National Grid. “The STEM bundles provided through the Baltimore Woods Nature Center’s Nature in the City program help keep learning alive all year long and offer another avenue with which we can help inspire the scientists and engineers of tomorrow.”

National Grid’s sponsorship of Baltimore Woods aligns with the priorities of its Project C initiative, which seeks to collaborate with our customers to strengthen our communities.

The company’s support of Nature in the City fulfills all four pillars of Project C – clean energy and sustainability, environmental justice and social equity, workforce development, and neighborhood development and community engagement. Learn more about Project C at National Grid’s website.

To learn more about Nature in the City and how to sponsor the program, visit baltimorewoods.org/nature-in-the-city/.