Stewardship

[Michelle M. Finn]

We are lucky enough to live on a spectacular Maine island that is home to a little one-room schoolhouse, a gaggle of terrific kids, and a nature preserve that constitutes more than half of our total acreage.  Part of what we teach at our school has to do with understanding and enjoying the natural world, but part also has to do with being good stewards.  Everywhere we go, whether it be on our rocky beaches or mossy trails, we try to leave it better than we found it.  Every year we do a large-scale cleanup of the beaches and trail system.  We sort out the recyclables from the garbage and bag it all up.  Since no vehicles are allowed on the trails, we shlep everything out the old fashioned way: on our backs.  It may take us all day but it's worth it.  We get to enjoy the most amazing classroom every week...the least we can do is say, "Thanks."