Student works with Somerville community to encourage environmental awareness and education

When senior Ariela Summit began to intern for the Eagle Eye Institute through Tufts Introduction to Peace and Justice Studies class, she had no idea that she would be tapping maple sugar trees around the Tufts campus -- but that's exactly what she ended up doing.

"I got involved with [the Eagle Eye Institute] through an internship requirement," said Summit, the daughter of Jewish Chaplain Rabbi Jeffrey Summit. "Through that program I heard that they were looking for someone to continue the syruping project."

Summit came to Eagle Eye through an internship with the Tufts' River Institute, and a summer course studying the Mystic River Watershed in relation to social activism.

Along with other Tufts students and volunteers from Somerville and the surrounding areas including elementary school students, Summit has spent the last few months tapping maple sugar trees in Medford and Somerville in order to extract the sap. The group used several maple trees on campus, including the ones surrounding Tisch Library and Bromfield-Pearson.

The process culminated this past weekend when the students from Somerville elementary schools came to the Somerville Growing Center and boiled down the sap in order to make maple syrup. The students were taught about the value of trees and the environment through skits and activities.

Summit plans to take over the program next year, after one of the teachers involved retires. "I'm training under him to teach a curriculum on environmental education," she said.

"The point of the event was to get people out there, and raise awareness and to teach about the trees," Summit added. "It's a way to perform outreach in the community and teach environmental education. It's not just for the schools, it's also a community outreach project."

Both the Somerville Community Growing Center and the Eagle Eye Institute are organizations concerned with community organizing and outreach. According to the Eagle Eye Institute, its purpose is to encourage "hands-on exploratory learning on environmental topics for underserved urban youth of color". The Institute joined with the local Somerville Community Growing Center in order to get this project off the ground.

"The idea for those two days is to get as many people as possible out there and get as many people from the Somerville community as possible involved," Summit added.

In two weeks, Summit will return to the elementary schools for a "pancake party" with the home-made syrup made from the trees. She will also continue to teach about the environment along with the Eagle Eye Institute.

"It's a chance for me to work with the community and teach about the importance of the environment," Summit said.



-by Rebecca Dince