It’s not every school where you can see chickens free-ranging on the lacrosse field during a practice, but Green Mountain College isn’t every school. During a recent visit to Poultney, Vermont to lecture and instruct a walling workshop at the college I discovered a vibrant educational community that’s leading the way in environmental studies. The eight students I worked with were a ready and willing group. They quickly grasped the concepts and principles of dry stone wall construction and jumped right into building. By the end of the afternoon they had laid up a 24 foot long section of retaining wall using slate cut-offs from a local quarry/fabricator.

It was a treat for me to meet faculty and students at Green Mountain. My gratitude to professors Joseph Markowski for bringing me to the campus as a guest lecturer, Lucas Brown for orchestrating logistics of the workshop and to Philip Ackerman-Leist for his support in bringing the day to fruition. To Carley W., Sarah G., Cody G., Tomer K., Nate S., Nate C., Cris B. and Kris S., thanks for your team work and good spirits.