FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENTISTS TO SHARE THREE YEARS OF RESEARCH ON ENDANGERED LADY’S SLIPPER ORCHIDS
Lyme, NH—While New England’s native orchids are threatened by habitat loss, collection, and predation, middle school students in Lyme, New Hampshire, are quietly working to rebuild the population of these majestic plants. Over the past three years, seventh and eighth grade scientists at Crossroads Academy have successfully propagated over 8,000 seedlings of the rare showy lady’s slipper.
On Friday, September 25, 2015 at 8:15 am at Crossroads Academy, eighth grade students will present the results of three years of research inspired by the challenge of saving three species of lady’s slipper orchids from extinction. Crossroads students cultivated seedlings of the rare showy lady’s slipper in our school’s tissue culture laboratory. They are now distributing young plants to master gardeners and working with local organizations to develop lady’s slipper sanctuaries throughout the Upper Valley in order to help prevent their regional extinction. The students will be presenting this research at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, D.C. In recognition of their extraordinary accomplishments, the students will also be inducted into the American Junior Academy of Science, the only scientific research honor society for secondary school students.
Crossroads Academy is pleased to invite the press, Upper Valley conservation professionals, science educators, land stewards, horticulturists, and all interested community members to attend this public presentation. Discover how challenging students to engage in authentic science can lead to concrete accomplishments that enrich our lives and improve our environment.
About Crossroads Academy:
Crossroads Academy is committed to academic excellence and moral integrity. It inspires its students to love learning, act honorably, and contribute actively to intellectual, cultural, and civic life.
Founded in 1991 by Mary Beth Klee, Crossroads Academy is an independent, coeducational day school for students in kindergarten through grade eight. Crossroads Academy’s sequential, classic curriculum is based on the Core Knowledge philosophy as developed by E.D. Hirsch, and on the Core Virtues Program, a character education program created by its founder. According to Head of School Brad Choyt, “Our educational framework and 140-acre woodland campus empower experienced faculty to deliver a rich educational program. Upon graduation, Crossroads students attend the finest public and private high schools in New England.”
Crossroads enrolls more than 120 students from within a 50-mile radius. Students are drawn from numerous Upper Valley communities including Lyme, Hanover, Canaan, Orford, Lebanon, Piermont, Monroe, Grantham, Enfield, Grafton, and Warren in New Hampshire, and Norwich, Thetford, Fairlee, Topsham, Hartford, Vershire, and Woodstock in Vermont.
