Jack Sinkler of Norway and Coulton Williams of Mason Township build a yurt in the Green Room of Boxberry School.

Boxberry School studying shelters

OXFORD – Year five at the Boxberry School is beginning with full classrooms in the Periwinkle Room (grades three to six) and the Green Room (grades kindergarten to two).

The school welcomes back returning teacher Lucille (Seal) Rossignol of Norway to the Periwinkle Room and announces the return of Jessica Person of Oxford to the Green Room. Eliza Beghé and Dareth Law, both of Norway, return as assistant teachers.

Boxberry uses “learning expeditions,” which are like unit studies, to incorporate academic subjects in fun and interesting ways.

Their first learning expedition focuses on shelter. The Periwinkle Room has been studying yurts and their origin among the nomadic tribes of Mongolia. Students have been working collaboratively to build mini-scale models of them in the classroom.

Rossignol said, “All the students have had to use their problem-solving skills to work with their partners and figure out the best way to build. It’s been a learning experience for all!” They have also been reading excerpts from a biography focusing on Bill Copperthwaite, a yurt builder who lives in Machiasport.

The Green Room students began their investigation into the shelter expedition with the study of snake habitats, which then led to an interest in Monarch caterpillars. On a walk through the woods, they discovered some caterpillars and brought them back to the classroom terrarium.

After a student-led investigation of the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly, they were able to witness the hatching of two of the butterflies.

The school recently took field trips to both Carter’s Cross-Country Ski in Oxford and Bethel. At Carter’s hut in Oxford, they learned about local and edible plants from Boxberry mom Julie Gordon and observed the layout of the hut, further discovering what makes a shelter and exactly what materials people might need there to survive.

They have been writing lists of survival needs for the hut and geometrically looking at how specific shapes make up a shelter or structure. The group also visited Carter’s in Bethel, where they learned about the yurt that is present at that site.

For more information about the Boxberry School, call 743.9700 or visit www.boxberryschool.org.