New Wells Nature and Sustainability Club

There’s a new Nature and Sustainability Club at Wells, and they have BIG plans: creating a school recycling and sustainability awareness program, building pollinator gardens and native plant habitats, creating bird feeders and nesting material hangers before winter, learning about local ecosystems through nature walks and citizen science, designing upcycled art from reused materials, and organizing campus clean-ups and environmental awareness campaigns.

The club, which is run by reading teacher and nature enthusiast Caroline Pace, meets on Monday afternoons and already has over 25 members. During the last meeting, the club welcomed guest speakers Jane Bell and Judi DiMaio from the Friends of the Great Swamp  – or F.R.O.G.S. – to speak at their meeting about the Great Swamp which borders BCSD.

“Lets talk about all the animals that live in the Great Swamp,” said Judi. “There are minks, otters, frogs–the swamp is a freeway for animals.”

The group then talked about the problems facing the swamp and the animals and plants that live there and how the Friends of the Great Swamp are working to preserve the environment. They even learned about “citizen science” and an effort to help amphibians safely cross roads in the springtime.

Jane and Judi spoke about the geology of the area and even passed around rock samples (genesis, mica with schist and magnetite), the history of Brewster’s iron ore industry, and how the rocks of the swamp help clean the water. 

“The Great Swamp is one of the most interesting wetland areas–we want to make people aware of it,” said Jane.

As students asked questions and passed around rock samples they got excited about the club.

Maddie Johnson, a seventh grader who started a recycling program at C.V. Starr said, “This club is great. There are so many things we can do. I can’t wait to go on hikes and field trips and get the recycling program going at Wells.

Students in the club plan to create art for the Great Swamp Art Show for their Fall Celebration Weekend on October 18-19, 2025 in Pawling, which is free for anyone who wants to attend and will include many fun and educational activities for all ages.