By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
Back in February, sixth-graders at Nate Perry Elementary School pitched their ideas for educational projects at Beaver Lake Nature Center. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony May 26, the students unveiled the prototypes chosen for installation at Beaver Lake.
Armed with their smartphones, visitors to Beaver Lake can scan QR codes stationed along the trails. These codes lead to student-created websites informing visitors about the wildlife that call Beaver Lake home. Visitors can also call a phone number and dial the station number to hear students’ recordings of the information.
“They were really thoughtful in the process. They knew the population of patrons is older [and may not have smartphones],” said Andrew Dionne, one of the teachers who led the project.
“Our goal throughout this entire project was to make this as student-centered and student-led as possible,” Dionne added.
Once Beaver Lake and school officials selected the winning idea, students held conference calls with vendors to create durable stations with the QR codes. Dionne said he stepped back and let the kids handle getting estimates and hashing out the details with the vendors.
Since the stations are designed to last 20 years, today’s NPE sixth-graders might be bringing their own kids to visit the nature center and see and hear their handiwork.
“It’s very exciting,” student Isabella Sereluca said. “It lasts for 20 years — it’s amazing.”
“That’s what we’re trying to instill in these kids, that they’re coming up with something that will be there in 20 years,” Dionne said.
Isabella’s dad, Joe Sereluca, said it was nice to see his daughter’s school connect with a well-known community organization.
“It’s nice to see the kids doing something for Beaver Lake,” he said.
Joe Sereluca added that technology has come a long way since he was in sixth grade.
“It’s very interesting to see the stuff they’ve done as a sixth-grader — back in the day, we’d never done stuff like that,” he said.
Student Julia Wike called the project a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“I feel excited to see that we got that job done,” she said.
After the Feb. 10 “Shark Tank”-esque project presentations, Beaver Lake naturalist Meg Valovage said the sixth-graders were “wise beyond their years.” She commended their enthusiasm and their bright ideas. Dionne echoed that sentiment at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“I think we’ve always known we’ve had a unique group of kids,” he said.
