Reflection on a year at Bluegrass Greensource
“I didn’t know that!” This is a phrase I have heard at every class and event I have attended as an AmeriCorps/EEL volunteer. The exclamation came from both children and adults as they learned that dragonflies start their life in the water eating fish, that beavers have luscious thick fur and are as large as a small child, or that Night Crawlers are an invasive species. In classrooms and at fetes, sharing information about nature always inspires awe and delight.
I especially love working with young children and I have had many opportunities to visit preschool and kindergarten classrooms this year. Rachel Patton, the Education Director, has developed and refined interactive lessons that pull children in and explain big concepts in ways children can understand and build on. For example, capillary action of roots is a hands-on activity where children use paper towels and colored water to see capillary action at work. Another example is “The Tree Factory” where children pretend to be different parts of a tree: roots that take in water, bark that protects the tree, branches that reach towards the sun, leaves that deliver the suns energy to tree. The activity has children clustered around one child who is the “heart,” waving their “leaves,” making slurping noises to take in water, stretching their “branches” towards the
sun, and using their arms as bark to defend the tree from pests. It is a noisy, riotous lesson that is much more effective than a textbook for teaching the parts of a tree. I believe the lessons I have offered to classrooms as a volunteer with Bluegrass
Greensource have sparked an enduring curiosity about nature in children.
The new location of Bluegrass Greensource at Buckley Wildlife Sanctuary has offered both challenges and delights. On our first day at Buckley, while unpacking boxes and setting up desks, we paused to watch a mother deer and fawn nibble at the bushes beside our building. Staff meetings are often paused to watch groundhogs scampering across the lawn. It is good to recall these happy sightings when the water smells like Sulphur, a black snake raises its head from the shadows of the garage, or the internet is slow. These are also features of Buckley.
The year as an AmeriCorps/EEL volunteer at Bluegrass Greensource has flown by. I started the year helping to box up a warehouse of teaching resources and feeling woefully lacking in environmental knowledge. I am thankful for the PEEC course, for the rich resources available at Bluegrass Greensource, and for the enthusiasm for nature-based learning Rachel and others have shared with me this year.
Paige Beichler
August 21, 2025
