Summit Grad Helps Turn Barn Into Preschool Nature Center

The following press release was submitted by Colgate University.

Sara DiMassino, of Summit, a member of the Colgate University class of 2014, is one of five students in biology professor Krista Ingram's spring semester Community-based Study of Environmental Issues course that worked to convert an old barn into a hands-on nature center designed to spark the curiosity of preschoolers. See the video here.

"The whole idea behind the course is that the students do projects in the community," Ingram said. "The amount of work they put in was absolutely phenomenal ... they did a lot of research on New York state standards for what teachers would be looking for at different age groups, and they looked at other nature centers in the area. There's sensory tables and stuffed animals. There's a way of using what children love to help them understand science."