Liverpool is located, geographically speaking, at the heart of the state of New York. The area is referred to as Central New York ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_New_York ). Central NY is an area rich with history (natural and other) and we are very fortunate to have a wide variety of wonderful opportunities for personal enrichment.

Firstly, if you posed the question, "What do you like most about living in central NY?" to a person on the street, they would likely answer with…"the weather." If you followed that question with "What do you like least about living in central NY?" they’d likely answer with…"the weather." Our class sentiment is no different. Inhabitants of central NY and the rest of the Northeastern US ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_United_States ) experience all four seasons. Our summer days (early June through mid September) are warm and, on occasion, humid. Our fall days (mid Sept through late November) are cool, crisp, and occasionally wet. It isn’t too uncommon for us to see sporadic snowfall during the fall. Our winter days (late November through mid March) are cold (not arctic-like though). Syracuse NY is the snowiest "big city" in the US. We typically receive around 120" of snow during the course of late fall and winter. We’re so "snowy" due to our proximity and position to Lake Ontario ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ontario ). Our spring days (mid-March through late May) can be explained by borrowing (and editing) a line from the movie Forrest Gump. "Spring weather is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re going to get." We’ll have two or three nice warm, dry days followed by two or three days of cold and wet. As I type this, tomorrow’s forecast includes a "winter weather advisory", meaning we are bound to see a bit of snow and ice. Central New Yorkers learn very quickly to take the good with the bad and make the most of being able to experience something (four distinct seasons) that many others around the globe do not.

Secondly, as we said earlier, central NY has a wide array of things to see and do in the "great outdoors". Our class mentioned a number of the fabulous State and County Parks ( onondagacountyparks.com ). The Adirondacks ( www.visitadirondacks.com ) ended up on many of our lists. It is the largest park inside the lower 48 states! It’s a wonderful region to spend a day, or an overnight, or even camp for a week, all the while soaking in the sites, sounds, and smells. Green Lakes State Park ( nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp) is a great place to walk on the many nature trails, visit the small nature center, go swimming, do some fishing, or camp in your tent or RV, and even rent a lodge to stay in. Clarks Reservation ( nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp ) is another of the great state parks nearby us. The hiking trails are steep and tricky which make for a fun experience. Beaver Lake Nature Center ( onondagacountyparks.com/beaver ) is a superb place to learn about the intricacies of nature through walking on one of the many nature trails or spending time in the interpretive center.

Thirdly, lakes and streams are plentiful in central NY too. One of the five Great Lakes, Lake Ontario ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Ontario ), is about 30 miles north of us and is a very popular destination for boating and fishing enthusiasts. Oneida Lake ( www.oneidalake.com ), which is markedly smaller than Lake Ontario, is every bit as popular for the same reasons. We are also rather close (30 miles) to the Finger Lakes Region ( www.fingerlakes.org ) too. The Finger Lakes are known for their rich soils that support a variety of types of farming.

Fourthly, in addition to the many nature-oriented activities within a short drive of us are many fun non nature-oriented activities. Syracuse has 2 professional sports teams, The Crunch (hockey - www.syracusecrunch.com) and The Chiefs (baseball - www.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp ) as well as nationally-known college sports teams from Syracuse University. It’s a great deal of fun to sit in the stands and enjoy a hotdog and soda while watching the game. Syracuse has a world-class small zoo named The Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park ( rosamondgiffordzoo.org ) as well as a fantastic science museum called The M.O.S.T ( www.most.org ).

Lastly, since we are centrally located, geographically, it’s easy to travel to various hotspots from central NY. The Atlantic seaboard and ocean is a 4 hour drive to the southeast of us. New York City ( nycgo.com ), aka "The Big Apple", is also 4 hours or so in the same direction. Niagara Falls ( www.infoniagara.com ) is a 3 hour drive to the east of us. The country of Canada is directly north and east of us via a major interstate roadways. As you follow the links we’ve placed in our letter, you’ll undoubtedly have a feel for why we enjoy living here in central New York! A little bit about our class: Environmental Science is a full year (early Sept to late June) science elective course offered to juniors and seniors who have completed at least two years of science coursework (namely Earth Science and Biology). Not every student at LHS must take the course, hence the reason it is referred to as an elective · The class is unique in that it does not culminate in a standard final exam. Instead, we use an authentic assessment. Each student has a "Stewardship Project" that must be completed by the end of each marking period…a total of four in all. The Stewardship projects they have to choose from are varied. For instance, they can volunteer some of their time at a local fish hatchery or the local nature education center. The Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse offers a great opportunity for them to study/photograph/video-record many of the endangered species there. They can construct nesting boxes for Bluebirds, Wood Duck, and Little Brown Myotis’. They can even develop and teach an environmental science lesson at one of our 10 elementary schools (Kindergarten through 6th grade). We meet every other day (MWF or Tu/Th) from 7:45am to 9:12am.