Palouse Prairie School Summer Adventure

Originally published in the Moscow Food COOP News, October 2008

By Donna Mills, PPSEL Volunteer

This past July, members of Palouse Prairie School of Expeditionary Learning offered a chance for children in the area to experience a hands-on look and feel of Expeditionary Learning. The subject was local sustainable and organic agriculture. The two-week class was full of many opportunities for the children to get their hands into the local agriculture. They visited a local organic farm and learned how an organic farm is different from a non-organic farm. The children participated in a creating a plot at the Moscow Community Garden and after harvesting the garden, they gave their vegetables to Backyard Harvest. The project let them see food travel from the soil to the community. There were many wonderful activities that the children explored, including worm composting, honey bee pollination and a look at the connection between farming and wetland conservation. The experience culminated in a project in which the children painted a PCEI trailer to show what organic and sustainable gardening looks like. Watch for the newly painted PCEI trailer as it travels through town to work at local watersheds.

This experience exemplifies one of the ten design principles of an expeditionary school. The eighth design principle, “The Natural World” says: “A direct and respectful relationship with the natural world refreshes the human spirit and teaches the important ideas of recurring cycles and cause and effect. Students learn to become stewards of the earth and of future generations.” What a fantastic experience the children participated in.

Please join us for a workshop "A day in the life of an Expeditionary Learning School,” October 11, 9-noon. This free workshop will be led by a school designer from Portland and will be held in the new west wing of the 1912 building. Please RSVP at http://PalousePrairieSchool.org. For more volunteer opportunities, contact nilspete@gmail.com.

Parents' Workshop with EL School Designer, Sat Oct 11

Expeditionary Learning Schools is sending a school designer to facilitate a morning workshop for parents and interested area teachers. The tentative title is "Day in the life of an EL School." Parents will participate in activities that give both the flavor of an EL school day and take a deeper look into how the 10 Design Principles make EL different from traditional school curriculum. (Area teachers are welcome to attend and learn more about active learning strategies.)

The session is scheduled for the new West Wing of the 1912 Center.

9-Noon, Saturday Oct 11
Admission Free, but advance signup requested.

Tour to Summit EL School, Fri Sept 26

Parents wanting to see EL in action are invited to come on a tour of Summit School in Spokane Valley. We have organized two of these trips in the past, and they provide interesting insights to EL in action.

Depart Moscow Rosauers at 6:45AM sharp Friday Sept 26 to get to school in time for the opening (there is no opening bell). Back in Moscow by about 3:30.

Please sign up (below) to help our planning. We'll help coordinate car pools if you want, indicate on the form. We will limit the trip to 25 people so as not to overwhelm the school.

Website for the Summit School.

Map with driving directions from Moscow.

Yard Sale, Sat. Sept 20

Saturday, Sept 20, 8-noon
Emmanuel Lutheran Church
1036 W "A" St Moscow

Fund raiser for Palouse Prairie.

Three ways to participate:
1. Drop off items to be sold. Friday 3-6PM at the church
2. Volunteer to help with the sale or setup (nilspete@gmail.com, or show up)
3. Shop till you drop. (And talk to us about Palouse Prairie)

Palouse Prarie Awarded $100K Albertsons Grant

Press Release Aug 21

Palouse Prairie School has received a grant of $100,000 from the J.A. and
Kathryn Albertson Foundation as part of the Foundation’s program to support
educational choice.

“We are very thankful. This is an important gift, it allows us to get the
project moving in advance of receiving state funds,” said Nils Peterson,
chair of the Palouse Prairie Board.

This fall, an Expeditionary Learning (elschools.org) school designer will
facilitate a three-hour “Day in the life of an EL class” for parents. This
will be a hands-on simulation of key EL activities and an in-depth way for
families to learn more about the EL model. Also this fall there will be a
trip to visit Summit School, an EL school in Spokane Valley.

Palouse Prairie to Collaborate with U of I Design Students

Originally published in the Sept 2008 Moscow Food COOP News

Written by Donna Mills, volunteer writer

This fall an Interior Design class at the University of Idaho will take on the project of designing the remodel of the Now and Then Antiques building for the Palouse Prairie School of Expeditionary Learning (PPSEL). Palouse Prairie plans to open as a K-5 charter school in August 2009. The project requires UI students to learn about Expeditionary Learning (EL) and how space impacts the ways teaching can occur. The students will treat this class project as a job. They will create different designs for the school in group projects and then choose the one they feel is best and refine it.

This partnership between the PPSEL and the UI students exemplifies one of the ten design principles of an expeditionary school. #6 Collaboration and Competition says: “Individual development and group development are integrated so that the value of friendship, trust, and group action is clear. Students are encouraged to compete not against each other, but with their own personal best and with rigorous standards of excellence.” It will be exciting to follow the progress of the UI students as they design, redesign and eventually produce a project that rises to a rigorous standard of excellence.

Its great to see the principles of EL developing during the processes of opening the school. As the school develops and grows toward it’s opening in the fall of 2009, there will be many opportunities to witness the other nine design principles.

Watch for opportunities to learn more about Palouse Prairie and Expeditionary Learning this fall. A “Day in the life of an EL class” is being planned for parents. There will also be a trip to visit Summit School, an EL school in Spokane Valley. The PalousePrairieSchool.org web site has opportunities to volunteer, links to EL resources and more information about the school. Contact nilspete@gmail.com

Celebrating the Summer 08 Expedition

Our two-week summer camp ended with a celebration on Aug 2 out on the PCEI campus. It was not really an "Expedition" in the full ELS sense, more a 'taste of an expedition.' Like an expedition each camp day was structured like an ELS school day and the children were engaged in an integrated curriculum related to sustainable agriculture, learning a range of things, from growing "FAST plants" to doing some work in the community gardens. The celebration Morris country harvest dancing.

The Celebration was also a chance to mark the approval of the Charter and a shift to the next phase of the task -- opening a school.


Dancers take a bow.