April showers are watering the May flowers in all their forms again at Carmichaels this spring. The school is alive and blossoming with new educational opportunities and reviving old traditions, too. As the days grow longer and warmer, students take to the great outdoors. Lunch periods, electives, and independent studies find students soaking up the sun in the high school library courtyard, chalk full of picnic tables, life-sized games, and budding trees to lift the spirits and chase away the cobwebs during study time.
All the while, the Envirothon team is shaping up for another exciting year of scientific discovery and competition with their annual tree plant, this time at a local landowner’s home in Greensboro as part of the GRACE program through the Greene County Conservation District DCNR Bureau of Forestry. These experts will guide students in applied methods for tree identification and land management practices that go beyond simple book knowledge.
The Envirothon team is also planning an on-campus field experience through the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy with stations such as Forest Riparian Zone maintenance, macroinvertebrate collection, and stream electrofishing to connect with the aquatic biodiversity within the district’s own branch of Muddy Creek. These waters, mere steps from the classroom door, are teaming with life as far as the eye can– or can’t see.
At the elementary school, reading seeds were planted as young students took on a “Read Across America” March Madness book bracket. Each week, first graders gathered to enjoy two competing stories read by high school seniors from the National Honor Society. After both stories were read for the week, each student was encouraged to vote for his or her favorite book.
The winners of each week faced off in another round where fan favorites were lovingly repeated until the final book was decided. While students undoubtedly enjoyed the jungle sounds and engaging voices of other tales, it was the humorous illustrations and understated language of David Shannon’s “No David” that took home the gold in this year’s elementary book bracket.
Middle schoolers are also getting out of their comfort zones and watering their public speaking skills with their upcoming play at the conclusion of their sixth grade Introduction to Drama elective. The class reads only plays during this nine-week literature and performance course, which often lack context due to such works seldom being performed live. The students will vote on their favorite play and perform it in the auditorium for other middle schoolers and parents of students, allowing these adolescents to embrace the stage and their own voices, perhaps for the first time.
The seeds of learning being watered in Carmichaels are the result of compassionate and dedicated faculty members, whom the students wish to personally thank and recognize during Teacher’s Appreciation Week (May 4-8). This week (and all the rest), students hope their teachers soak up a little of the encouragement and joy that have been cultivated all along. Here’s to the educators, and here’s to spring, 2026!
