Meet Your Hike Leaders: Join Dr. Laurie Smith, Superintendent of the Upper Dublin School District and Erin McCool, Director of Engagement at Wissahickon Trails, for a conversation about how schools and conservation organizations can work together to connect students with the natural world.
Wissahickon Trails and Upper Dublin School District share a strong partnership centered on outdoor and watershed-based learning. Each year, Upper Dublin high school students visit Wissahickon Trails preserves as part of their science coursework, engaging directly with the landscapes and ecosystems they study in class.
Upper Dublin has demonstrated a deep commitment to outdoor education, particularly in the sciences. The district has integrated outdoor learning experiences at multiple grade levels and maintains a strong partnership with Robbins Park Environmental Education Center, a nature preserve in Upper Dublin that serves as a hub for hands-on environmental learning. This work has become even more important with the adoption of Pennsylvania’s
STEELS (Science, Technology & Engineering, Environmental Literacy
and Sustainability) Standards, which call for students to develop environmental literacy by understanding the connections between human systems and natural systems. Achieving this goal requires learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom.
Together, Erin and Laurie will share how partnerships between schools and conservation organizations create powerful opportunities for students to engage with real-world watershed challenges and solutions—while also experiencing the many benefits that time in nature provides.
About the Hike:
Starts and ends at the Beale Road parking lot in Armentrout Preserve. From there, we'll take the Milkweed Loop to the connector trail into Camp Woods and work our way along the Mayapple Loop, pointing out the parking for Camp Woods along Mason Drive, before heading to the Switchgrass Loop toward the South end of the preserve to show where the trail connects to Hughes Family Preserve at Briar Hill. We'll work our way back via the Honeysuckle Loop connecting back to the Mayapple Loop and Milkweed Loop toward the parking lot.
