As winter turns to spring, the sugar maple trees at the Brewster Central School District show signs they are open for business–ready to be tapped.
Fourth graders trudge out in boots to the best sugar maple tree on campus next to the JFK parking lot by the football field. The ground is soft mud, but no one minds. They gather around the tree.
“How can students tell this is a good tree?” asked teacher Michelle Maselli.
“The canopy is large.” “It looks sturdy.” “There is lichen growing on the trunk which is a sign of clean air in Brewster.” “The shape of the canopy.” These are just some of the answers.
Maselli then asked students to make the shape of the branches with their hands.
“The branches are V shaped,” she said, “and there are red buds at the ends of the branches which means the tree is ready.”
The tradition at C.V. Starr Intermediate is 40 years old, parents of students having tapped the same trees with the same tools. The unit is part of their study of the living history of New York starting with the Native Americans and ending with the Colonists.
“So glad this is still happening!! One of my favorite memories from elementary school! I was telling my current students about it recently because we just had a pancake breakfast as a reward - so fun the kids are still experiencing this,” said Lindsey Sidcheid on Facebook.
Two classes of fourth graders each turn the drill, which Maselli reminds them is a “simple machine,” clean out the hole with a metal wire, tap the tree, hang the bucket and cover the bucket to protect it from rainwater. The process is hands-on and exciting from the first wood shavings crumbling out of the hole to the steady drips of sap running.
“It looks like water!” said Camilla.
After the sap is collected, it will be boiled down, just like the Native Americans and early Colonists did, and turned into maple syrup. And after that, just like BCSD students have done for 40 years, students will celebrate with a pancake breakfast and fresh maple syrup.
