Swampscott Teachers, Students Display Projects at Salem Visitors Center

Two groups of Swampscott teachers and students recently had their projects displayed by the Essex National Heritage Commission.

The commission is a “non-profit that manages and provides numerous programs preserving and enhancing Essex County’s historic, natural and cultural sites,” according to a press release from the group. The projects came from the 2014 Park for Every Classroom program and were displayed at the Salem Visitor Center June 3 during the program’s culminating event.

Fifteen teachers from throughout Essex County participated in the “Park for Every Classroom” program, which provided teachers with the training needed as they led their students and community partners to “implement eight unique projects that align with curriculum, engage in their local place, and serve a ’real world’ need.”

In Swampscott those projects included:

• High School students working to integrate mindfulness into their school culture via a Wellness Day (led by teachers Buck Harris and Iago Vazquez-Gonzalez);
• Fifth graders partnering with the Lynn Museum to create outreach kits about the shoe industry that will help the museum connect with students who cannot come to the museum in person. (led by teachers Karen Reback and Lindsay Hodgson).