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From the FREEP

A Letter to the SRV Community from Costa Rica

Scott with some of the students at The Cloud Forest School

Scott Timm, former Science and Main Circle teacher at SRV, is now Head of School at The Cloud Forest School (CFS) in Costa Rica. I wrote last week in the FREEP about the partnership SRV is forming with CFS; Scott clearly plays an important role. His interest in sustainability was evident during his time at SRV, and in his new position at CFS he has the opportunity to focus on sustainability in many aspects of his work. Scott will be giving a talk at SRV in March titled "Environmental Curricula and Cross-Cultural Partnerships: The Cloud Forest School, Costa Rica." For more information about The Cloud Forest School, go to www.cloudforestschool.org.

Dear Friends,

A lot has changed since I last wrote a FREEP article! Emily and I still talk of The School in Rose Valley; we love you much and think of you frequently. We are religious readers of the FREEP, happy to receive it by email every few weeks. The aspect of SRV I miss the most is the careful thought that goes into its program, curriculum and instruction. It has been interesting to read about your pondering on sustainability, and it is on this topic that I was asked to write to you.

At The Cloud Forest School, where I am currently Head, sustainability is a phrase that we use often. In a world that has many fewer resources than the world we left behind, we need to stretch what we have as far as possible. I have heard stories of teachers, searching on hands and knees, gathering pieces of crayons to reuse for the next day's class. Part of our mission is to serve as many of the local children as possible, and to that end we provide nearly half our budget in financial aid. While this may not seem sustainable – indeed – somehow we make it work each year.

The idea of sustainability can be applied to many parts of our program. Our reforestation work is perhaps our most tangible form of sustainability, as our students plant nearly 1500 trees a year on our 106-acre property of pristine cloud forest and pasture. Our children compost, turn compost into soil in our worm beds and then bag this soil for our reforestation program. Students spend the year gathering and learning about native seeds on our trails, germinate them in the greenhouse and care for them until they are sturdy enough to be put in the ground. Students and teachers alike return to care for trees they have put in the ground every few months; we can see the benefit as howler monkeys, toucans, quetzals and sloths return to our campus. In a country that thrives on ecotourism, we hope to educate this next generation to care for their forests, to look out for their livelihood in a way that also teaches them to appreciate their most valuable assets. We try to squeeze constructivist math in there, too (smile).

I am happy to hear of SRV's focus on sustainability, as this theme can help those of us dedicated to progressive education to focus on our priorities and beliefs about children. I do wish Ridge could be here to build rustic furniture, Mike could visit to encourage children to create toys, and it sure would be nice to taste some of those wonderful meals from the kitchen. (I forget my lunch nearly every day; talk about sustainable...) We at CFS look forward to our teacher exchange with SRV, and I am excited to catch up with you in early March when a colleague and I will be giving a presentation at SRV (yes, Emily and Grant will be there, too!). Take care all, and enjoy that winter weather for me.

Much Love and Respect,
Scott