Providence Afterschool Alliance for Education Week

November 12, 2011

Sixth grade students from Roger Williams Middle School in Providence, Rhode Island, walk along a trail at the Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge in Smithfield, Rhode Island, on Oct. 20, 2011. The students are part of the EcoExplorer program run by the Providence After School Alliance, which helps to kids in learning environments outside of school time. The students make a weekly visit to the refuge, operated by the Rhode Island Audubon Society, to learn about nature and ecology. M. Scott Brauer for Education Week

Jennifer Klein leads sixth grade students from Roger Williams Middle School in Providence, Rhode Island, as they walk along a trail at the Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge in Smithfield, Rhode Island, on Oct. 20, 2011. The students are part of the EcoExplorer program run by the Providence After School Alliance, which helps to kids in learning environments outside of school time. The students make a weekly visit to the refuge, operated by the Rhode Island Audubon Society, to learn about nature and ecology. Klein is an Urban Education Coordinator for the Rhode Island Audubon Society. M. Scott Brauer for Education Week

Jennifer Klein (right) shows a small plant to sixth grade students from Roger Williams Middle School in Providence, Rhode Island, as they walk along a trail at the Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge in Smithfield, Rhode Island, on Oct. 20, 2011. The students are part of the EcoExplorer program run by the Providence After School Alliance, which helps to kids in learning environments outside of school time. The students make a weekly visit to the refuge, operated by the Rhode Island Audubon Society, to learn about nature and ecology. M. Scott Brauer for Education Week

Manny Babbitt, 12, looks at foliage while he and other sixth grade students from Roger Williams Middle School in Providence, Rhode Island, walk along a trail at the Powder Mill Ledges Wildlife Refuge in Smithfield, Rhode Island, on Oct. 20, 2011. The students are part of the EcoExplorer program run by the Providence After School Alliance, which helps to kids in learning environments outside of school time. The students make a weekly visit to the refuge, operated by the Rhode Island Audubon Society, to learn about nature and ecology. M. Scott Brauer for Education Week

For Education Week, I recently photographed school children walking in the woods at an Audubon site in Smithfield, Rhode Island. The program is part of Providence After School Alliance and aims to increase the time in a day that children spend learning, often through nontraditional programs. In this case, children walked through the woods of northern Rhode Island (coming from Montana, I must confess, I didn't know Rhode Island had forests) and learned about biology and ecology. It was a really fast shoot; the children were outside for not much more than 30 minutes. Thirty minutes is fine, if not generous, for most portrait shoots, but it's tough for a situation such as this with kids running every which way in unpredictable lighting conditions and unsure footing. I nearly stumbled a few times over hidden roots and fallen branches! You can see how Education Week published the pictures elsewhere on this site, or find more images in my archive.