Earth Day at The Potomac School is always a special day. In fact, so is the month of April as a whole: Earth Month. With spring finally showing its colors, as we have all experienced, it is filled with outdoor activities, both planned and unplanned. Students migrate their recess outdoors and shift from indoor to outdoor play. Spikeball on the Quad is a definite benefit of springtime, along with soccer, thanks to SGA’s new soccer goals. The outdoor spaces for learning scattered around Potomac’s 90-acre campus allow students to grow closer to the natural world while excelling academically, as well.

This year for Earth Day, Intermediate and Upper School students were given a free dress day and encouraged to wear green clothing for Earth Day spirit. Some enthusiastic Upper School service learning advisory leaders led a short but meaningful assembly about the importance of our planet and its resources, and how we, as high school students, can make an impact. After this meeting, advisories spread out around campus to connect with nature. For forty-five minutes, phones were left in classrooms, and advisors deepened their bonds both within the group and with nature. Activities included nature walks, gardening, tennis, bird watching, rock skipping and more. Some advisories also had the option to connect inter-divisionally with younger students during this time while doing an outdoor activity. Advisories read stories with Lower School and also played with baby chicks. 

Similar celebrations took place in the other divisions. Intermediate School advisories partook in similar bonding activities. Some Middle School classrooms took this opportunity to go on nature walks down to Pimmit Run, while others played competitive rounds of Earth bingo. Lower Schoolers made Earth drawings and 3D flowers. Lower School librarians even compiled a list of over fifty books for young students to read for Earth Day, involving themes about the environment. Additionally, Potomac’s service learning department offered a service trip to Vinson Hall, a retirement community, for a cross-divisional gardening experience with their residents. Overall, Earth Day at Potomac is a day for students to connect with the natural world around them and continue these traditions while connecting with our beautiful campus.