Summer program on hiatus until next year

AUBURN – Science teacher Cameron Sutton often began her days by mopping the floor.

Plastic tubs and buckets sat in the corner of the classroom, beneath a ceiling stained brown with water. Between the ceiling tiles, coffee-colored fiberglass insulation hung low.

“The CP Wight building was perfect for us for many years,” said Sutton, one of two teachers at the Auburn Land Lab. “But it’s been falling down around us.”

On Wednesday, Sutton and others began the job of packing up the microscopes, life-cycle charts and books for her new school.

When school reopens in the fall, the science hub for Auburn’s schools will reopen, too. Plans call for the Auburn Land Lab to inhabit three classrooms in trailers next to East Auburn Elementary School.

“We hope to offer the same services we offer now,” Sutton said.

Some changes are likely, though.

The Land Lab began operation about a decade ago in the Wight building, built in 1951 and operated as an elementary school until the late 1980s. Hebron used it for several years. In the late 1990s, Auburn leaders decided to capitalize on the school’s countryside location near Lake Auburn’s western shore and teach science there.

The lab grew to serve virtually all Auburn students and kids from several nearby towns. It just couldn’t continue at the Wight building.

“It’s coming to the end of its life,” said Jim Chandler, who serves as the lab’s director and as a teacher.

Besides the leaky roof, the building suffered from an aging heating system. The exterior showed signs of neglect with cracked and peeling paint.

On Wednesday, one classroom began to fill with plastic totes for the 4-mile trip to East Auburn. Volunteers helped clear shelves and stack equipment.

The job will take weeks, during breaks in the teaching schedule.

Plans call for some of the gear to be given away, first to Auburn teachers and later to teachers throughout the region. The only stipulation is that they use it for educational purposes.

Part of the giveaway is about space.

The four classrooms will be squeezed into three at East Auburn. The lab will take over the existing trailer and a used double-wide purchased for about $42,000 at Schiavi Home Builders of Oxford.

Outdoors, the reconstituted lab will spread out.

East Auburn Elementary School sits on more than 20 acres, much of it wooded and ready for trails. One has already been marked and awaits builders. A ropes course is also planned.

Nearby is an outlet of Lake Auburn where the kids can touch the water.

Under supervision, they might learn about invertebrates, bugs or rocks and minerals, Sutton said.

The lab’s program will evolve, she said.

This summer it will be taking a break, however. A four-week day camp had been growing in popularity, but it was put on hiatus for the summer to give the move enough time, Chandler said.

He hopes it will return next year.

Plans for the Wight building are uncertain. When the school moves out, the structure will revert back to the city.

Chandler hopes this will not be the last move for the lab. He hopes to build a more permanent structure beside East Auburn Elementary. He imagines a “green” building, paid for with a combination of donations, grants and tax money.

For now, this move works well, he said. “This provides us with all we had at Wight and more.”