Students help along circle of life

For several hours on Thursday, the children of Janet Campagna’s third-grade class at Waddell Elementary School in Lexington became – alive.  Divided into three groups of five, they sat silently amid the trees of Boxerwood Gardens Arboretum and Nature Center and tried to sense things as if they were deer. They noticed sights, sounds and smells, and the rapidly answered questions when asked.  They picked up poles and fished for the duckweed that covered a shallow impoundment of water called the New Pond in a suffocating, pale green blanket. They used a stick, a conch shell, a large sieve and a colander as “hooks.” Bare-handed, they shook and dropped the duckweed into pots and transferred it to the roots of nearby trees and shrubs.  What killed the pond for real fishing would nurture plants for the future.  A student fishes duckweed out of a pond. After removing the duckweed, students dropped it into pots and place it as fertilizer around the roots of nearby trees and shrubs.

Stepping lightly: In the early afternoon they walked ever-so-silently around the Old Pond, trying to spot turtles and frogs. In everyday life, few children are rapt for so long. The five youngsters following volunteer Phyllis Fevrier came up with eight frogs and three turtles, the highest total of the day’s three groups. If Henry David Thoreau were alive to tour these gardens, he’d be pleased: Here lies silence, emotion and spirit. Maybe it’s the naturalness of it all. Maybe it’s education steward Elise Sheffield’s teaching techniques, which emphasize silence and observation. Maybe the lack of perfection -- Boxerwood celebrates nature in all its cycles from birth to death -- puts us at ease in a society where perfection is dangled before us sinners, too often ruining our self-esteem and wrecking our peace of mind. Volunteer teacher Phyllis Fevrier leads a group into the wetland area in Boxerwood Gardens as students keep an eye out for animals along the way.   Something else besides the silence and beauty is evident: the devotion of the people who work there to their task. Elise Sheffield, 45, is a Brown University graduate who used to teach English literature at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista. After treatment for breast cancer, she refocused her life by taking over the educational program at the gardens. She loves watching children who may not succeed in school immerse themselves in Boxerwood’s life lessons. “I see a lot of happiness, joy and vitality of life.” She said.

At Boxerwood, it’s all about paying attention.

excerpts from Roanoke News – October 9, 2006 -

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