Division-Wide Middle School Sustainability Study Project Immerses Students in Experiential Learning

For the first time since 2018, the Middle School community embarked on a division-wide experiential learning project that immersed students in the world of journalism as they researched, investigated, reported, and created content on the subject matter of climate change and sustainability. 

The 2024 Middle School Sustainability Study asked students to take on the role of media personnel including reporters, photographers, audio engineers, video producers, graphic designers, and website creators in an effort to learn the elements of accurate, objective reporting and media literacy. The project kicked off with a special presentation from Class of 1988 alumnus Bun Lai, who is a sustainable food chef and former owner of Miya’s Sushi in New Haven.

Over the course of the week, the students learned tips on how to create content for their specific medium through presentations from guest speakers including current parent Abby Douthat, freelance reporter; Annie Murphy Paul, science writer and reporter for the Hidden Brain Podcast, Mark Mirko, the Deputy Director of Visuals at Connecticut Public NPR; Joe Dwyer, a multimedia specialist in the Office of Communications at the Yale School of Environment, and more. The students also participated in a panel discussion with guests from the Greater New Haven area during which they practiced asking inquisitive questions in preparation for their on-site visits to local organizations for hands-on reporting.

For more than three months, Director of Middle School Brian Christman, science teacher Paulomi Aldo, and English teacher Allison Enhrenreich have been brainstorming on what subject matter the project should focus. Through the planning process, all agreed that the topic should be meaningful and offer students the ability to build out life skills including critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

“Without a subject of great importance, the project will not develop the type of urgency and authenticity that drives eager and enthusiastic Middle School students to stretch themselves,” said Mrs. Aldo. “We decided that our topic will be sustainability in the Greater New Haven area. Students will look at the issue from several perspectives including public policy, private sector ventures, and the science behind climate change.”

The fun began on Wednesday, April 17, as the students spent the day off-campus traveling to local organizations for their media interviews and content creation. Middle School history teacher Bud Kohler and English teacher Jose Martinez took their group to Mr. Lai’s farm in Woodbridge where they learned about the practices of sustainable food and foraging. Other groups traveled to the Peabody Museum and the Yale School of Sustainability, the New Haven Public Library, the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association in Meriden, The Hotel Marcel, where the students asked questions to owner and architect Bruce Becker in the form of a press conference, and the gardens at Fairmont Park in New Haven where students planted trees.

“While there have been some of the usual challenges associated with big experiential learning projects, the students have demonstrated tremendous curiosity and a deep commitment to learning,” said Mr. Christman. “It’s one of the most ambitious projects we have assigned in quite some time, and to watch the students take initiative and ask incisive questions whenever they have encountered new topics in sustainability has made our Middle School team very proud.”

All the students will present their research and findings in a poster presentation and gallery walk in Taylor Gymnasium on Friday, April 19. The project will conclude with a special awards presentation featuring a judging panel on Monday, April 22. Students will be judged on the depth, breadth, and creativity of their work along with other criteria.