Featured Events, Resources, & Opportunities

In Bloom in Western Mass, Saturday, May 14, 2022, Hitchcock Center for the Environment, is a full day conference for educators and parents of preschool–third grade students. The workshop sessions provide best practices in nature-based early childhood education, cover relevant topics, and take you outside to experience firsthand learning. The morning keynote speaker, Ayana Verdi, founder, and director of Verdi EcoSchool, Melbourne, Florida, will address Cultivating Connection: Using the Community-as-Campus to Build Immersive Learning Experiences for Young Children. The afternoon plenary features Anne Stires of Alna, Maine. Anne will speak on Re-imagining and Co-Creating Change: How a professional learning community (PLC) for Maine administrators is implementing nature-based change in PreK–8 schools. Presented by Antioch University New England in Keene, NH. View the Conference Program to see the workshop descriptions. Contact: Peg Smeltz, msmeltz@antioch.edu

Learn at Morse Hill is an outdoor elementary homeschool program on 85 acres in Shutesbury, MA. As this fully outdoor program plans for its third year of creating hands-on learning experiences under the beautiful hemlocks of Morse Hill, campus tours are now available and filling up quickly! Students enjoy a cozy yurt for warming in the colder months and build resiliency through Morse Hill adventure experiences, including canoeing, hiking, climbing, and a ropes course. Families may select up to four homeschool days per week. To learn more, visit www.learnatmorsehill.com or reach out to Jess Evans, Leadership Team and Enrollment Coordinator, at enroll@schoolatmorsehill.org. 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s most fanciful and enchanting comedies, telling the tale of four bewitched lovers as they reckon with jealousy, desperation, and the complications of true love. Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s Stage2 takes up residence at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester to present a 90-minute production of this classic comedy. A Midsummer Night’s Dream will perform 3 open/public community performances: May 7, 2022, at 2pm & 7pm, and May 14, 2022, at 7pm. Tickets are available at commshakes.org. Student Matinee performances will also be available for student groups from May 5-13. Potential patrons should request tickets through this link (also available on their website) or email education@commshakes.org.

The Hilltown Community Development Corporation (Hilltown CDC) offers free, confidential business assistance to Hilltown residents. If you are thinking of starting or growing your business, the Hilltown CDC can help! And thanks to a generous grant from the MGCC, all of their business assistance is FREE. They have experts in a wide range of areas that can help Hilltown entrepreneurs get on their feet, including website help, social media marketing, business tax and accounting, legal assistance, and more. For more information, email Hilltown CDC Economic Development Director Michele Kenney at MicheleK@Hilltowncdc.org, or call 413-354-1055. Sign up for their free virtual classes at hilltowndirectory.com/events

The Bement School offers summer programs for children ages 4-15. Children have the opportunity to enjoy the fun of a traditional day camp and help create their own schedule by choosing from a wide range of unique activities. Digging into Nature at Pine Hill provides outdoor education for ages 6-9. The Junior Camp provides a safe, nurturing camp experience for our youngest campers. The Adventure Day Camp offers activities that include sports, nature, arts and crafts, and swimming. The Counselor-in-Training program gives young teenagers experience working with children and developing valuable job skills while still enjoying summer camp fun. Summer Program dates are listed on their website. Sign up now, as sessions are filling fast!

The Hilltown Youth Summer Workshop in Charlemont, MA, offers intensive outdoor training for aspiring actors, artists, dancers, musicians, singers, and circus performers (trapeze, fabrics, stilts, German wheel) with Andrae Green, Scott Halligan, Laura Iveson, Double Edge Theatre, and other luminaries from the Valley’s performing arts community. Perform under the stars on an aerial park, zipline, mountaintop at Berkshire East, ensemble and theatergoers reach by chairlift! Help create their 2022 spectacle “Much Ado About Nothing” guest directed by Knighthorse Theatre—”our mission is to make Shakespeare cool again”—no prior experience required. HS-aged participants can apply for their YouthCore program.
Dates: July 11-August 4, 2022; Age Range: 10-18yo. Contact: 413-625-2100 ♦ hilltownyouth@gmail.com ♦ hilltownyouth.org

List of Weekly Suggested Events

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Self-Directed Learning: Native Species/Porcupine

Native species are excellent community-based educational resources to support interests and education. Take the porcupine, an animal neighbor who lives in rocky outcrops and hollow trees in Western MA. Exploring porcupines can support interests in habitat conservation, animal biology, biomimicry, folk art, and Native American mythology. Get curious and propose questions to naturalists at your local conservation area. – What does a porcupine eat? Can they shoot their quills? What type of habitat do they prefer? When is their mating season? – These are all great questions to begin your lessons in learning through the lens of the porcupine.

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Self-Directed Learning: May Day

The season’s next basket-centric holiday is May Day, following the spring holidays! Much evolved from its earlier historical and cultural roots, a modern May Day includes baskets full of bright flowers, outdoor folk dancing, and other spring celebrations. While there is no one event or celebration to which we can trace modern May Day’s roots, there are a handful of possibilities. In Roman times, May Day celebrations praised Chloris, the goddess of the earth, and these earliest celebrations inspired similar May Day traditions in cultures for centuries to come. The ancient Celtic festival of Beltane is held on May 1 and celebrates summer’s coming with bonfires and dancing. Germany’s Walpurgisnacht similarly celebrates springtime in a Pagan way, with bonfires and wrapping a maypole. Today, a fully celebrated May Day likely includes May baskets filled with flowers, beautifully dressed Morris dancers, and the wrapping of a maypole.

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Self-Directed Learning: Fishing

There are many places to go fishing in Western Massachusetts while connecting with the local landscape while spending time outdoors. The season kicks off with fishing derbies happening around the region in the spring. Getting curious about the impacts fishing has had on our local culture, the history of fishing, how anglers stored fish without refrigeration, and what fish species live in our region can guide your learning. – What is the fishing cultural heritage of New England? How has Western Massachusetts participated in this culture as both consumer and through recreation? Before the invention of refrigerators and freezers, how was fish preserved? How were fish caught before the introduction of contemporary materials? Do you know how many species of fish live in the Connecticut River? The Westfield River? The Housatonic River? – Let these questions lead your learning this spring. Read more in our post, Learning Ahead: Fishing.

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Self-Directed Learning: Mental Health Awareness Month

Everyone knows someone whose life has been touched by a mental illness. Learning about and understanding mental illness can help you become a more knowledgeable friend or family member and educate yourself on your own mental health. Check out the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services for information on Mental Health for Adolescents to learn about the common warning signs and disorders of mental health and access to services and resources for treatment.

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Self-Directed Learning: Agriculture/Asparagus

In the Connecticut River Valley, late spring is always associated with harvesting asparagus or ‘Hadley Grass.’ Hadley, once known as the ‘Asparagus Capital of the World,’ was famous for its asparagus from the 1930s to the 1970s. In May and June, the whole Hadley community would come together and harvest up to 50 tons of asparagus a day by hand. While Hadley and the surrounding towns once had several hundred small asparagus farms, in the mid-1970s, a fungus called Fusarium was introduced to the area and decimated the asparagus industry. Local asparagus production may only be a tenth of what it once was, but the asparagus harvest is still an important cultural event for many in the region. Many of our local towns honor the asparagus harvest as a traditional part of spring through food celebrations and community meals, marking the season and connecting us to where we live through food traditions.

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Self-Directed Learning: Food Studies/Rhubarb

This time of year, farm stands all over the area are selling rhubarb. A local delicacy, rhubarb, has been enjoyed globally for thousands of years in sweet and savory dishes. In China, rhubarb has also been prized for its medicinal properties. For most people, the most common application of rhubarb is paired with strawberries in crumbles or pies. Many 19th century cookbooks even refer to rhubarb as the ‘pie plant.’ When the weather gets hot, try making this strawberry-rhubarb sorbet served in ice bowls to help cool off! After you’ve eaten the sorbet, you can experiment with the bowl as it melts. Does freezing change the herbs that were encased in ice?

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Self-Directed Learning: River Walks

A handful of local paths and trails provide access to the natural and human history contained on the banks of western Massachusetts rivers. From short, interpretive paths to remnants of ancient trail systems, these paths and trails bring families closer to the waters that sustain the landscape. Read more in our post, Urban And Rural River Walks and Trails Highlight Natural and Human History.

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Weekly eNewsletter

Online and in-person events and resources shared above are done so as a courtesy and not as an endorsement. While we do our best to share accurate and up-to-date information, please take the time to confirm information, age appropriateness, registration requirements, safety protocols, and associated costs.

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Hilltown Families’ list of Suggested Events is supported in part by grants from the Agawam, Amherst, Becket, Bernardston, Buckland, Chester, Chicopee, Colrain, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Granby, Greenfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Heath, Hinsdale/Peru, Huntington, Leyden, Montgomery, Mount Washington, Northern Berkshire, Orange, Otis, Palmer, Pelham, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Tolland, Tyringham, Windsor, and Worthington Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.