Students Get Out at Anewalt’s!

Team Anewalt’s just held its first Outdoor School experience, a day to reconnect students with God’s Nature to ensure a strong future for both the upcoming generation and our environment.

Sixteen eighth graders, many of whom are residents in the City of Reading, came from Sacred Heart School in West Reading to spend the day at Anewalt’s in Bernville, learning and exploring nature.

"The thing that impacted me the most about outdoor school was the serenity walk. It impacted me the most because it made me feel calm and relaxed for the first time in a while" – Coy K

Violet Foster, the Assistant to the VP in Training at Anewalt’s, spent the day at Outdoor School.

“What inspired me the most was seeing everyone working together, willing to learn new things, and even being excited about it. I don’t see many kids who are willing to step out of their comfort zones and do something completely new, and during outdoor school it seemed like a lot of them did just that. I loved to see them getting excited to learn things they had never known about before.

Violet adds that Team Anewalt’s cares about investing time and efforts to influence upcoming generations for the better, and that she loves being part of this mission at Anewalt’s.

"The thing that I liked the most was the pruning. Pruning is fun!"

– Junilynn R 

"The walk impacted me the most at Anewalt's. The day outside was so fun"

– Luke S

During the day, Ed and Lori Anewalt shared background information with the students, led them in fun activities, and toured them through the very special Swiss-inspired Serenity Walk. The eighth graders learned about Anewalt’s Trees & Bees for Tomorrow Program, a mission to save pollinators through the planting of pollinator gardens, and enjoyed exploring nature trails.

Jeff Thompson, Anewalt’s Sales/Account Manager, joined with Lori to discuss with students different aspects of plant identification and what certain plants have as their WOW factor – or - why you would choose the plant for your landscape. 

Spring clean-up, pruning perennials, and garden tool safety topics were also covered by Jeff, who said of the students, “if they take away a better understanding of plants and in turn a better understanding of the environment, we may have made a difference.”

"The thing that impacted me about outdoor school is the peacefulness of the outdoors. I love the quiet and peaceful atmosphere and how beautiful it looks outdoors."

– Adriana Q

A relative and customer of the Anewalt’s, Cynthia Bickley was a teacher and early childhood director for twenty years. She joined in to guide the Sacred Heart students through their Outdoor School Experience and was inspired by the day.

Cynthia said, ‘the impact of Outdoor School for me was how Lori was able to thoroughly engage the 8th graders in environmental science. The kids learned many skills: to observe, identify, prune, and plant. They will be back in three weeks and so will I!”

“Ed and Lori consistently act as a reminder to go above and beyond. Life needs to go beyond doing business. Always consider what you can do to improve your corner of the earth and then take action.”

– Jeff Thompson