The La Lumiere Arboretum: Promoting Place-Based Learning at La Lumiere

La Lumiere has a unique set of climatological and topographical features, which greatly increase biodiversity on our 190-acre campus. “Due to the historic usage of the land at La Lumiere, there are many opportunities to observe ecological succession on campus. The dammed lake, the CCC pines, and the previously harvested oaks have each affected biodiversity in a myriad of ways,” Brett Balhoff, the Chair of the Science Department, said.

Leveraging La Lumiere’s campus to its fullest educational potential, our Environmental Science classes recently completed a project resulting in the founding of the La Lumiere Arboretum. As part of a larger effort to promote place-based learning across disciplines, students worked with Mr. Balhoff to locate and identify 30 unique trees on campus, including their genus and species name. Thanks to a gift to the school to support these efforts, we were able to purchase tree tags for each tree. Class participants then installed every tag and, in doing so, brought the arboretum into existence.

The goal of the Environmental Science program is to expose students to field biology, environmental chemistry, and scientific modeling in a place-based educational structure.  Using the campus as a classroom to survey populations of wildlife, eliminate invasive species, and monitor the quality of the water in the lake and two smaller ponds allows students to engage with their environment in a meaningful and tangible way.

For many years, students here have appreciated the school’s beautiful setting, and with the founding of the La Lumiere Arboretum, we now have a unique educational opportunity for all who visit our campus. Raising awareness promotes an appreciation of the distinctive scenery and environmental backdrop of our school.

Our plan is to promote the La Lumiere Arboretum as an opportunity for local schools to visit campus with their science classes to study the trees in various ways, including tree identification, measurement of tree diameter and circumference, studying the characteristics of a mature tree, and examining leaf patterns. Stay tuned for more information regarding a new summer school curriculum focused on Environmental Science and Stewardship. 

For more information about the La Lumiere Arboretum, future plans, or ways you can get involved, please contact Brian Tonino ’12 at btonino@lalumiere.org.