On Wednesday, June 8, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Connecticut Experiential Learning Center (CELC) middle school students will celebrate the opening of a nature trail at Benincasa Community at Fisher’s Nook, 2160 Durham Road, Guilford. This spring students began working on a trail that will eventually follow the perimeter of the six-plus acre property, marking out native species and inviting people into contemplation.

Benincasa Community and CELC partnered in spring 2022. Both share a desire to learn about, preserve, and restore our natural environment. Over the past few months, the students have created a trail on the property, explored the land through artwork, learned to identify native trees, examined bug life in the West River with Conserve CT, and enjoyed time with Benincasa Community’s goats and chickens.

Benincasa Community looks forward to welcoming more school groups to the land. Benincasa Community is supported by the Guilford Foundation.

CELC is a small, Branford-based middle school focused on holistic learning through experience and real world applications of academic engagement. Since its founding in 2009, CELC students have participated in a wide range of experiences from sailing up the coast of New England to most recently building a cosmic walk trail at Benincasa Community.

Each year CELC students showcase their intensive project based on the year’s curriculum. This year students’ coursework embodied the study of sustainability and the environment, culminating in a cosmic walk that explores the passage of time and its reflection throughout the environment and its ecosystems.

Benincasa Community is a small non-profit rooted in the Catholic Worker Movement. Although rooted in the Catholic tradition, it invites all students, from middle school to graduate school, to its ecological learning center.