Parke Heritage High School students are learning about one of Parke County’s special resources through the project: Tapping Into Tradition: Connecting the Next Generation to Parke County’s Historical Maple Syrup.
Students in Mrs. Morgan Cooper’s Family and Consumer Science classes, Mrs. Elsa Burbach’s Spanish classes as well as Mrs. Hallie Helderman’s, Mrs. Shannon Witty’s, and Mr. Colton McMullen’s agriculture classes are working together on a Place Based Education Project with the Center of Excellence in Leadership and Learning with the University of Indianapolis.
This project has allowed students to get involved in their community, with maple syrup production being such a rich part of Parke County’s history. Students have been working with the Parke County Visitors Center, Neysa Sandusky and Legacy Maple Producer, Jim Meece. Students have had the opportunity to have Jim Meece as a guest speaker and during a field trip visited his sugar shack where he talked all about the history of maple trees, tapping trees now versus when it first started, how to boil sugar water to produce maple syrup and more.
Mr. McMullen's students were even able to utilize their drone flying skills to take footage of the lines.
Students were then challenged to create a pamphlet regarding the information they have learned. Recipes, horticulture of maple trees, first-run syrup versus later run syrups and tapping trees, and how to boil sugar water to make pure maple syrup are among the information that they have learned. Students also have been able to volunteer at the Maple Fair.