There are places I’ve driven by two billion times and never noticed how much of a story they have.

• Keshon

How much have we all missed, as our lives speed by? So often, we hustle from one expectation to another. Entire days disappear, and before we know it we are waking up, ready to do it again. Conventional school can feel similarly rushed, with pressures to cover or deliver leaving teachers feeling like there isn’t enough time. To get through the lesson, the world outside the classroom needs to fade into the background. It will be there when the bell rings. Until then, students need to focus on what’s in front of them.

BCL students are also asked to focus on what’s in front of them — but because the city is their classroom, what’s in front of them is the place they call home. It’s real, it’s interesting, and it doesn’t take long before it’s clear that the city is more complex than any classroom debate, simulation, or lab. And the more we pay attention, the more the place we live becomes the place we learn.

Typically my high school classes do not talk about the state of Burlington at all. It’s very rare that we even discuss or interact with current events. But I feel more deeply connected to Burlington since starting BCL. This is because BCL has allowed me to personally know community partners who have a big role in the city. We have also done a lot of analysis regarding the city, paired with visual learning, which has allowed me to connect the past and present of Burlington’s history. For me it has felt empowering to be able to explore the different issues and conflicts about Burlington, and it has overall opened my mind to new perspectives. 

• Eli

At BHS, learning is done in school, inside classrooms. It’s kind of like a closed environment. Now that I am in BCL, I do feel more connected to Burlington. It has felt very refreshing to dip deeper into this place. And by refreshing, I mean as in how our other classes in BHS don’t really go in depth about Burlington unlike BCL. I have learned more about topics that I didn’t have much knowledge about, such as the housing crisis, homelessness, microplastics, animals, etc.

• Thomas

I feel like my connection has grown over the course of the quarter. At first my decision to take chances was hesitant, but now I feel willing to go and take risks. It was like cutting through a pineapple. The hard shell at first kept me from experiencing the wonders of the fruit within. Now I am at a point where I get to experience that fruit every BCL day. At the high school, my classes aren’t connected to the city at all, because they require me to follow a strict learning schedule that doesn’t allow for these opportunities. In BCL, I take in the wonders of learning about Burlington and whatever the program has to offer.

• Hayden

Thanks to BCL, I definitely know more about what’s under the surface of things I’ve spent my whole life walking past or never known about. [One example is] the Rubenstein lab, because I thought it was extremely cool to literally get a look inside life under water, and learn more about how what we do affects the inhabitants of the lake. Learning that we are part of a watershed that is much, much bigger than I thought, even being connected to New York State in that watershed, was super cool. We got to use tools to dissect and see the anatomy of fish I never even knew were a part of our lake. 

• Harper

I feel more connected then I have before because I see the city in more ways than I have before.  There are places I’ve driven by two billion times and never noticed how much of a story they have. One of those places is the lake. In the Rubenstein Lab, I learned about how much harm people are doing to our lake, such as discarding a bunch of unwanted stuff like micro fibers and plastics. From doing just one load of laundry, I let a bunch of these harmful things into the lake, and I do my laundry usually two times a week. I didn’t realise how much I’m killing the environment.

• Keshon

I’ve only ever had one class that went outside. It was Spanish during my 9th and 10th grade school years, and we would go outside and play tag in Spanish. I think BCL is really the only class with a true connection to the city, that goes beyond just using the city as a break from being inside the school building. 

I do feel like I have become more connected to Burlington through BCL. That is mainly because of the way that we meet with people from all walks of life who each have a different perspective on the city. I have really loved how much depth each partner will end up giving us through whatever activity they have planned for the other students and me. When we did the fish dissection activity at the Rubenstein lab I felt connected to Burlington because I was learning more about the lake than I ever had before. I was not only learning about the lake, but also how it connects to Burlington itself… Before meeting with those community partners I did know that the plastics were a problem for lake health, but I had no idea how badly microplastics affect the fish. Finding a piece of fiber inside the fish I dissected – that made the problem real for me. 

• Amelia

I don’t feel connected to Burlington in my other classes because we aren’t outside doing real life things, and learning from those experiences. In BCL, we are connected to this place. I have lived in Burlington my whole life, and all the important community partners we have talked to are people I have never seen or heard of. Heading to the meeting about Burlington’s Open Space was interesting to me in many ways. One reason is because I have never been in that building – but also talking to people that have power and can make change happen made me feel heard.

• Quinn

I think I’m more connected to Burlington because I am going outside more and I’m connecting with people that are very involved with Burlington. Also, my thinking out there is very cool because I am hoping that I can change Burlington for the better. 

• Sokhna

Before BCL, I haven’t had a class that was very connected to Burlington other than maybe physics when we talked about the physics in a city. Most of the classes just stick to their textbooks and programs, and don’t go further to talk about real world situations. This is why I like BCL so much, because I definitely feel more connected to Burlington. BCL has made me understand so much more about the place I live in. 

Wildlife tracking has helped me learn a lot more about the place where I live. I had never really thought deeply about the animals and nature side of Burlington until BCL. When we went on a walk with Sophie, she explained that a road I drive on at least twice a day is a very important factor for animals in the New North End. 

• Izzy

I feel like I have connected more to Burlington through BCL, simply because I have learned more about it. I think that understanding different perspectives of Burlington, through things like going on our walk in the woods has allowed me to understand more about our city. Our experience with wildlife tracking helped me to understand what kind of animals inhabit the place that I live. Learning about the wildlife in the city opens up a completely new perspective. Tracking the wildlife helped me realize that humans aren’t the only mammals that live in the city.

Secondly, it helped me to understand the plight of these animals because as humans came to this place, they built houses and roads to make life easier for us, all the while ignoring the situations the animals may be in. For a turtle to simply cross the road, to get to another key part of its habitat, it must put its life through incredible danger, all for the sake of human convenience. I also think this experience actually helped me to understand some of the homeless people around me, and empathize with them. This is because I was so cold after being outside for just about an hour, which made me think about how the homeless people must feel, who are forced to be outside around the clock.

• Jimmy

I definitely feel more knowledgeable about the city systems, and I have a deeper understanding of the problems like lake health and the housing crisis. Discussing the city’s housing crisis with people who have multiple views on it was very helpful. I of course knew there were problems with housing in Vermont, but I didn’t know where they came from or how deep they were. 

For example I knew we had homeless shelters but that’s all I really knew. By talking with community partners I became more knowledgeable about the differences between low and high barrier shelters, and how right now is a particularly difficult time to be homeless because of all the federal cutbacks. Having community partners who can come in and share different perspectives on a problem really helps us tackle that issue. Knowing what’s wrong with something is half the battle of treating it.

• Finn

The housing crisis in America is a growing issue. Many people would like to live the suburban American dream, but do we have the capacity for it? The shortage of housing is the main reason for rising home prices, and there has not been a price decline since before the pandemic in 2020. Across the country lack of housing is pushing prices up, and in our own Queen City it is harder and harder for individuals to find a stable place to live. I am fortunate enough… but I’ve encountered so many who are struggling without the same support. The reality is that without changes millions will have trouble finding an affordable place to call home.

• Kali

I feel like I’ve learned a lot more about Burlington, which has made me feel more connected. It feels really eye opening learning more about Burlington, since I grew up here but I only know about the good stuff like the block parties and community events. Digging deeper into this place and learning new information on places I walk past every day really feels amazing. It feels even better being able to pass that information onto my friends and family. I feel like I’m really able to understand Burlington as well, because just knowing all the history and understanding why Burlington is the way it is.

• Nasra

I feel ten times more connected to the city I once grew up in but moved away from. This place-based learning program has helped me to remember a lot of old lost memories that I have forgotten over the years I’ve been living in Essex. It feels super nice to know where I’m at, and where I came from, even though I’ve lived here in Vermont my whole life. BCL is a fun way to get outside and learn about the real world and all of its problems.

• Byron

Most of my classes for the most part don’t connect with Burlington too much, mostly just here and there. Every now and then, we will spend maybe part of a class on Burlington. Normally the parts we speak about are also very small pieces of Burlington. Now, I feel more connected to this place. I think that it feels nice to learn more about where I’m growing up and spending a good bit of my life in. I feel that I understand Burlington more than I did before, from microplastics getting into fish to how we can help plan the future of Burlington. All of the things we’ve done just have brought me closer to the city. 

• Jude