Upton’s Boy Scouts of America Troop 132 Helps Touchstone Community School Prepare Outdoor Education Spaces

In Early September. Touchstone Community School’s 75 students returned. They are spending most of their days in their outdoor classroom spaces, thanks to Boy Scouts of America Troop 132. 

There hasn’t been much rest this summer at Touchstone Community School, as staff prepared to accept its students on campus. Indoor classrooms were arranged to accommodate personal spaces for each student with adequate spacing, and high quality air filters were added to each room. Hours were spent assembling single desks, tables, organizing personal kits, setting up sanitization stations, and putting health and safety protocols in place. 

Once the indoor spaces and classrooms were ready, attention was moved to setting up outdoor spaces for each classroom. Touchstone’s head of school, Sally Kent, reached out to the Boy Scouts. When Committee Chair Peter Rapiejko replied, she invited him to visit the school. 

“Scout Eric Rapiejko and Sally did a campus walk through. The campus includes about eight acres on the border of Upton and Grafton with fields, woods, and trails. They identified a couple of areas to service, including a trail around the campus and a wooded area where the Early Childhood Program wanted to build their outdoor nature classroom. A week before labor day, the troop and many of their parents showed up with clippers ready to work. They worked from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. with just a short lunch break. 

“I was truly impressed with their efforts and hard work, and how fast they cleared the woods and moved a mulch pile. Their help was tremendous, and we are truly grateful for the service provided by Troop 132,” said Kent”.

Eric is in the process of obtaining his Eagle Scout recognition. He offered to rebuild the school’s chicken coop as his Eagle Scout Service Project. He submitted a project proposal which has been approved and materials have been delivered. 

“The students at Touchstone are excited to see it take shape and to be able to welcome more chickens to the pen,” said Kent.

We were ready and excited to welcome back our students and to carry out our mission: to cultivate a joy of lifelong learning through transformative intellectual, social & emotional growth. Touchstone is a not-for-profit independent pK-Grade8 progressive school. They still have a few openings for this fall. Contact the admissions office for more information.