Sacred Heart Catholic School

SALISBURY — Earth Day is a special day at Sacred Heart Catholic School. It turns into a schoolwide celebration when students venture outside, learn from experts and do hands-on work to teach them about taking care of the place they call home.

“The whole school kind of comes together and sees that we’re the ones who care for this earth,” said Hillary Shores, a middle school science teacher and the school’s STREAM facilitator.

Local experts on farming, foresting, beekeeping and nature turned out to teach students about the natural world. Students trooped to an outside patio in shifts and rotated stations to learn from each.

Shores said this is the second year Sacred Heart has had an Earth Day celebration following this model. The school tries to change it up each time.

“Each year, our stations have changed,” she said.

This year, students could stop to make Mother’s Day cards decorated with origami butterflies, learn about the origins of food from Cherry Hill Farms, learn about trees and carpentry, learn about beekeeping, help build an insect hotel and learn to “leave no trace” from the school’s Boy Scouts troop.

Lessons at some of the stations — including the leave-no-trace station — were taught by local students.

“When students help other students learn, it’s much more effective,” Shores said.

The lessons fit in with Sacred Heart’s dedication to STREAM education — science, technology, religion, engineering, agriculture and math. For students at Sacred Heart, Shores said, taking care of the earth is a moral and religious obligation.