Mobile Field Station | NO BOUNDARIES

Let’s take a trip! Grab your coat and step outside—feel the sun on your face and inhale.

Pristine Vermont air with the fi rst nip of fall sends your brain a wake up call. On the

inside, you do a little happy dance and think: Today’s potential is boundless. We’re

going on a weekend kayaking trip on the Connecticut River. Along the way, we’ll

see bald eagles, Great blue herons, and osprey. Don’t be surprised if a few deer and

beavers also stop what they’re doing to check us out. You’ll become an expert paddler,

take a few water samples, identify native bird and mammal species, and discover the

history of the New England landscape.

Jump in the Mobile Field Station! We’re heading on a freewheelin’ learning adventure that is Vermont Academy.

Education for Life—One Student at a Time

The CLASS OF 2014 MOBILE FIELD STATION provides

the means for our students to examine nature’s seasonal lifecycle

with all of their senses; seeing, touching, listening, smelling, and

tasting. Students bring their individualized perceptions and analysis

to their interaction with the outdoors, which becomes a critical

part of the learning experience.

The dedicated 14-passenger bus, trailers, and laboratory and

recreational equipment will enable us to explore the best

outdoor experience that Vermont and surrounding New England

has to offer.

MEET CHRISTINE AR MIGER AND NATE W ILLIAMS

Vermont Academy values its people most who—through boundless

intelligence, passion, and commitment—make it a very special

place. No two examples shine brighter than Christine and Nate.

“ Stuck indoors and staring at textbooks, it’s easy to forget that science is about being outside. Out in nature, we experience new things, break through our preconceptions about how the world works, and have those “ah hah!” moments that change us forever. At these times, we connect with life around us. At VA, our students learn to track animals through the woods, examine the diversity of trees in a New England forest, and visit sustainable farms and solar energy projects that make Vermont the socially and environmentally progressive place that it is. Through these experiences they develop a heightened awareness of the natural beauty around them. I want kids to fall in love with science and the outdoors. Helping a student hold on to that part of herself that is curious, eager to ask questions, and ready to seek answers is one of my greatest rewards as a teacher.”

— CHRISTINE ARMIGER

Christine Armiger has been academically and professionally

involved in environmental protection and conservation for

over a decade. She received a BA in Environmental Science

(emphasis Biology) from the University of Montana and an MS

in Environmental Studies (emphasis Conservation Biology) from

Antioch University New England.

VA Courses: AP Environmental Science, Environmental Issues

Analysis, Field Biology, Chemistry

Activities: Sustainabilty Coordinator, Farm-to-School

program, Belize study abroad program, local and regional

environmental concerns.

Christine Armiger collects data on species diversity

in the intertidal zone in Acadia National Park, Maine.

HONORING AND MAKING ACCESSIBLE THE EXTRAORDINARY ECOSYSTEM OF

NATURE’S LIVING CLASSROOM IS YOUR GIFT AND LEGACY TO VERMONT ACADEMY.

“ Perhaps the ultimate challenge for an educator is to effectively facilitate a lesson for each student’s unique way of processing information and learning. The outdoors provides the optimal learning venue to accomplish this. Being in nature stimulates hands-on learning and engagement with living and non-living objects, all the while offering students various paths of learning—visual, kinesthetic, and auditory. Of course, an integrated approach is ideal. Students can read about American beech bark disease, research symptoms on the Internet, sketch samples, and form a hypothesis to test in the laboratory. However, it’s that moment when they venture into the forest and see an American beech that has succumbed to disease that I see everything click. That’s a beautiful moment. They take measurements, use a hand lens to count the number of white dots plaguing the bark, and inspect the woodpecker holes in the trunk (if we’re lucky, we’ll even see one!) Going into the fi eld and observing science as it happens ties it all together.”

— NATE WILLIAMS

Nate Williams joined VA from Farm & Wilderness, a non-profi t

organization that specializes in outdoor education, where he

learned the value of the outdoors as a meaningful teaching tool

and the positive impact it has on various learning styles. Nate

combines this concept with the teaching strategies he learned

from the Masters of Education program at Castleton State College.

His unique and integrated approach to teaching facilitates three

principles: connection to nature, self-empowerment, and play.

VA Courses: Integrated Physical Science, Biology,

Outdoors Program

Activities: Wilderness skills, rock climbing, hiking,

and snowboarding

BEING OUTSIDE ENCOUR AGES STUDENTS TO DEVELOP A HEIGHTENED

AWARENESS OF THE NATUR AL BEAUTY AROUND THEM.

Nate Williams and a student from his Integrated Physical Science class take a break from collecting data on the exposed metamorphic rocks at Saxtons River.

“ Outside the boundaries of a confi ned classroom, our imagination is sparked, and we learn by trial and error, not memorization. Outdoor education strengthens our roots in nature.”

— DAVID PERSHA, ’14

OH, THE PL ACES W E GO!

Through their teaching in fi eld biology, sustainability, and

environmental science, Christine and Nate take advantage of

natural teaching locations around campus, including:

✧ The Saxtons River

✧ Beaver Pond Ecosystem along Pleasant Valley Road

✧ Bowles Pond Ecosystem

✧ The Bancroft Field white pine stand

✧ Vernal Pools near the Arboretum

✧ The Maple Sugarbush by New House

✧ The experimental farm by the Observatory

Education for Life—One Student at a Time

P.O. BOX 500, 10 LONG WA LK, SA XTONS R IV ER, V T 05154 | T 802-869-6229 F 802-869-6242 | VER MONTACA DEMY.ORG

OH, THE PL ACES W E WILL GO!

Vermont Academy’s distinctive advantage for fi eld studies and

outdoor adventuring is in the many regional locations surrounding

Saxtons River, including:

✧ The Connecticut River and its Tributaries

✧ Local Farms throughout Southern Vermont and New Hampshire

✧ Solar and Wind Energy Projects in central New England

✧ The Forest Ecosystems in and around Saxtons River

✧ The White Mountains (NH), Green Mountains (VT) and

Adirondacks

✧ The Coastal Ecosystems of southern NH and Maine

At Vermont Academy, we are fortunate to do what we do. We get

to know and work with amazing students, and like snowfl akes, no

two minds are alike. That is the joy of teaching. Every single day,

we challenge students to learn, dream, and aspire beyond what

they could have imagined when they fi rst stepped on campus.

Your gift of the Mobile Field Station to our students is so much

more than a bus, equipment trailers, and lab tools. It is the spirit of

no boundaries.

Studying local amphibians in VA’s vernal pool and fi nding a spring peeper.

Collecting data in one of Vermont’s abundant river ecosystems.

Conducting a tree plot survey, identifying species of trees, and taking measurements.

Christine Armiger (center) and her Environmental Studies students get

their hands dirty in the medicinal plants greenhouse at Anjali Farms in

South Londonderry, VT.

MOBILE FIELD STATION AND

L ABOR ATORY W ISH LIST:

14-passenger mobile field station bus with towing capacity

—$60,000 (Family donor recognition)

A mobile field station trailer equipped to store, organize, and transport various laboratory equipment and outing gear

—$30,000 (Family donor recognition)

An Outdoors Program trailer to transport canoes, kayaks, life jackets, camping and hiking gear, and waders for aquatic studies

—$10,000 (Family donor recognition)

Endowment for the on-going operation of the Mobile Field Station and Laboratory

— $50,000 (Donor recognition)

A monetary gift to be used at Vermont Academy’s discretion for the Mobile Field Station

OUTDOORS PROGR AM

Kayaks

Canoes

Life jackets

Fishing gear

Backpacks

Snowshoes

Knives

Flints and magnesium

Write-in-rain journals

First aid kits

Gift totaling up to: $23,000

AQUATIC STUDIES

Wader sets

Pond nets

Aquatic D-nets

Specimen collectors

Invertebrate guides

Portable 1-gallon aquariums

Digital microscopes

Leaf pack flash cards

Gifts totaling up to: $4,000

MAMMAL STUDIES

Wild life cameras

Field guides

Tape measures

Have-a-heart traps

Gifts totaling up to: $3,000

FOR ESTRY

Tree corers

Tree core holders

Biltmore sticks

Distance measuring wheels

Wood fiber flagging tapes

Perma-tags

Diameter tapes

Meter sticks

Tangent height gauges

Gifts totaling up to: $2,500

GEOLOGY

GPS units

Hand lenses

Rock hammers

Plate tectonics block models

Geology block models

Gifts totaling up to: $1,200

METEOROLOGY

Telescopes

Field kits

Gifts totaling up to: $2,250

SOIL SCIENCE

NPK soil test kits

Ph tests

Soil pit shovels

Soil probes

Soil type guides

Gifts totaling up to: $1,500

WATER QUALIT Y

Dissolved oxygen test kits

Microbial cycling of nitrogen bio kits

Gifts totaling up to: $1,500

ENTOMOLOGY

Butterfly nets

Entomology kits

Magnifying bug jar sets

Insect jars

Gifts totaling up to: $2,000

ORNITHOLOGY

Binoculars

Ground blinds

Spotting scopes

Tripods

Field guides

Birding by Ear guide

Gifts totaling up to: $2,500

For questions on the Mobile Field Station

and gifting opportunities, please call

802-869-6261.

THE CLASS OF 2014 PROUDLY PRESENTS:

Components of the Mobile Field Station and Laboratory may be partially or fully funded by individuals, families, groups of parents, and/or grandparents. Please check the component below that you wish to support and indicate the gift amount on the reverse side. Every gift is valuable and will be gratefully received, recognized, and appreciated for years to come.

Mobile Field Station | NO BOUNDARIES

NAME

ADDRESS

S IGNATURE DATE

EMAIL

PHONE

ALTERNATE PHONE

Class of 2014 Mobile Field Station and Laboratory

James A. (Jay) Gundy, III, Director of Advancement | Vermont Academy, P.O. Box 500, 10 Long Walk, Saxtons River, Vermont 05154

Telephone: 802.869.6261 | Fax: 802.869.2115 | Email: jgundy@vermontacademy.org | Tax identification number: 03-0179600

The trustees, students, faculty, and staff of Vermont Academy are deeply grateful for your generous support.

Optional: Add a note to your graduate that we’ll display on our Mobile Field Station Facebook page:

STEP ONE :

Please indicate below the specific component of the Mobile Field Station you are gifting or designate “discretionary” for your gift to be

used toward the Station’s highest priorities.

I/We wish our gift to be used for: _________________________________________________________________________________________

STEP T WO :

I/We have enclosed a gift in the amount of: $ _____________________

I/We wish to make a gift of: $ _____________________ with appreciated stock/securities. Please contact Jay Gundy, Director of Advancement, at 802-869-6261 or jgundy@vermontacademy.org.

I/We wish to make a gift of: $ _____________________ by Credit Card.

Cardholder’s Name _____________________________________________________________________ Card Type __________________________

Card Number ________________________________________________________ Expiration Date _____________ Security Code ____________

I/We pledge to make a gift of: $ _____________________ over a ________ year period as follows:

By June 30, 2014 $ _____________________ By June 30, 2015 $ _____________________ By June 30, 2016 $ _____________________

By June 30, 2017 $ _____________________ By June 30, 2018 $ _____________________