Education
Educational Value
The long-term educational value of this property to the Ethel Walker
School is clear in terms of attracting excellent students (who can
choose from many similar schools), providing pristine woodlands to
investigate (numerous educational opportunities), and offering students
and the community the priceless opportunity to run and play in the
woods. A recent newspaper article titled “Let Kids Play in the Woods”
(Pierce, Neal, The Hartford Courant,
5/8/2005) reports on the “nature deficit disorder” which is becoming a
major topic in education. Of course many of us had the experience of
growing up and playing the woods, but fewer and fewer of today’s
children enjoy that luxury. As a society we are just starting to
understand the impact of this loss in terms of independent play and
exploration, opportunity for creative thought and mental space,
developing confidence and independence, and forming habits that promote
lifelong mental, physical, and spiritual health. The development plan
does include a pedestrian path, but walking on a set path beside a
housing development provides neither the experiential nor the
educational value. We should not deny the next generation of students
nor the members of the community these opportunities.
“Emerge”
The main theme of the Ethel Walker School is to help girls “emerge”.
For generations, a major way Ethel Walker enables girls to emerge is by
offering this priceless resource. Students at the school can run around
in the woods – go for walks, ride in the woods and still enjoy a place
that is accessible to all aspects of modern life with trips to
Hartford, New York, and Boston. This wonderful combination of the
country and the city is getting ever more precious, and will only
increase in value. “Emerging” doesn’t mean spending your life in
prescribed programs, and as an apropos metaphor, it doesn’t mean riding
exclusively in circles or on marked trails. Emerging means finding
yourself, and having the space to do it in. Ethel Walker values
independent, innovative, and creative thought. These qualities are
major predictors of future successes such as personal happiness and
financial independence. Preserving this beautiful woodland ensures that
these qualities continue to emerge in future generations of Ethel
Walker students.