More than 75 Kindergarten students from Lynne Thigpen Elementary School recently went visited the Pilcher Park Nature Center on a field trip. The students observed firsthand how sap is collected from sugar maple trees at the park and processed in the wood-burning evaporator at the sugar shack to make syrup. The students also visited some of the Nature Center animals, including snakes, turtles, and “Sky,” the Joliet Park District’s resident red-tailed hawk, before enjoying a breakfast of milk and homemade pancakes with syrup.
"It is so important for our students to experience learning in person during field trips," said Lynne Thigpen Elementary School Principal Dr. Teresa Woodard, "Our Kindergarten students enjoyed seeing how syrup was made and the delicious pancakes."