{"id":7630,"date":"2016-05-16T12:51:26","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T16:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/?p=7630"},"modified":"2016-05-16T12:51:26","modified_gmt":"2016-05-16T16:51:26","slug":"how-arcadia-nature-preschool-impacted-two-sisters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.massaudubon.org\/yourgreatoutdoors\/how-arcadia-nature-preschool-impacted-two-sisters\/","title":{"rendered":"How Arcadia Nature Preschool Impacted Two Sisters"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Laura and Mary Fisher walked around the Arcadia Nature Preschool<\/a>\u00a0this past December, the memories came flooding back. The sisters attended the preschool in the 1990s and vividly recall free play around the sand table, pretending to be pollinators, and going outside rain or shine every day.<\/p>\n

\"Preschool<\/p>\n

Not only do they both consider Arcadia Nature Preschool, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, as the best educational experience of their lives but agree their experience at Arcadia set them on the path toward their current professions and passions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was never the notion that you couldn\u2019t\u2014or worse, shouldn’t<\/em>\u2014do something because you were a girl,\u201d says Laura. \u201cEveryone got their hands dirty, especially me. The preschool taught me always to say \u2018I can do that.\u2019 And that still applies now in all areas of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fisher<\/p>\n

As a lawyer, Laura has written and published scholarly articles about the intersection of policy,\u00a0nature,\u00a0and agriculture. As a volunteer, she runs the Easthampton Community Garden<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mary studied biology in college and is now a chemistry teacher at a high school in Springfield. \u201cI told my mom that sending me to Arcadia Nature Preschool was the greatest thing she could have done for me,\u201d Mary adds. \u201cPreschool set the stage for my going into science. The hands-on activities of the Preschool are the same as the experimental approaches of the research lab.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebrating 40 Years<\/h3>\n

This year Arcadia Nature Preschool celebrates its 40th anniversary of the first nature preschool in Massachusetts\u00a0and one of the first in the nation. You can be part of the celebration by:<\/p>\n