Earth Day and Nasmyth Environmental Center at GAC

April 22 marks Earth Day on the calendar, and Greater Atlanta Christian School (GAC) plans to celebrate Mother Earth in compelling ways.

“Our Nasmyth Environmental Center lead teacher, Lisa Chase, will be making pollinator garden seed bombs with our wee ones (K3-5th grade) as part of Earth Day. She helps kids care for our environment all year. As an added bonus, there will be an afterschool workshop for kids to make a home-worm-bin,” GAC Director of Communication Margie Asef said.

“I decided to do the seed bombs, because it was a fun way to tie in the importance of pollinators to our environment,” Lisa Chase said. “Our seed bombs are a mix of wildflowers that will attract a variety of pollinators, such as bees and butterflies. We can talk about pollinators with all the grades at their appropriate levels. Little ones can learn about how bees make our honey and the older students are able to connect growing wildflowers with past lessons on sustainable agriculture.”

GAC Lower School Principal Rhonda Helms gave a comprehensive overview of the work and value of the Nasmyth Environmental Center on campus. “Teachers in the Nasmyth Environmental Center work diligently to create integrated and holistic learning activities,” Helms said.

“Whether they are in the greenhouse studying fish and plants in the aquaponics system, collecting data on the trout eggs beginning to hatch, caring for the chickens in their coop, learning about hydroelectricity while spending the day on one of GAC’s pontoon boats at Lake Lanier, or studying the medicinal effects of plants in our rainforest, students participate in lessons that have an experiential approach to learning that guides them to understanding their role and impact on the environment and their responsibility in sustaining it.”

The goal is hopefully to encourage “a love for exploration, sensory stimulation and learning through a robust STEM curriculum,” according to Helms. More information on the work of the Nasmyth Environmental Center can be found at greateratlantachristian.org.

“Although I see the glints of future environmentalists in some of my students, each one can be part of the solution. If we all work together to make small changes it will create a larger impact,” Chase concluded.

Happy Earth Day, everyone!