Class Dismissed...to the Quarry!
Local students embrace learning and looking at Vulcan's Annual Earth Science Day

November 3, 2008 - Area elementary students waved the classroom good-bye on Tuesday and made their way to the McCook Quarry for Vulcan's Annual Earth Science Day. The highly-anticipated day of learning at the quarry is an effort by Adopt-A-School partners LaGrange School District 105 and Vulcan Materials Company to allow students to learn firsthand how science, technology and engineering are used every day to better the world around them. If the smiling faces and repeatedly raised hands were any indication, the roughly 125 students who attended Earth Science Day enjoyed the hands-on learning opportunity.

"It's truly a wonderful and unique experience for the students," said LaGrange School District 105 Director of Curriculum and Instruction Kathryn Heeke, who worked with Vulcan to design Earth Science Day lessons for the event that met the state's learning standards and complimented the classroom's activities. "It allows us to blend the traditional classroom experience with real life scenarios to show students a glimpse of what one career is really like."

Lessons focused on an array of rock-related topics, giving students the opportunity to learn directly from Vulcan's experts in the field such as Principal Mining Engineer, Jill Downer; and Vulcan's Geologist, Joe Crawford. Other instructors included Zach Hershey, Mike Saban, Bridget Hinde, Dan Barnstable, Audrey Hurst and Mike Rollinger. The Vulcan team discussed and demonstrated how limestone is formed, what technologies are used to explore natural resources for limestone, how limestone is mined and how land is reclaimed.

"Earth Science Day is a fun new tradition that enriches our science curriculum and is something the students really look forward to," said Liz Charlton, a teacher at Spring Avenue Elementary School. "We are proud to have a strong relationship with Vulcan as they have proved time and time again to be an important member of our community."





Learning and exploring went hand in hand for the students, who came from Ideal, Hodgkins, Spring Avenue and Seventh Avenue Elementary Schools. They enjoyed a guided bus tour of the quarry, examined limestone samples with fossils of shells, performed quality control tests and discussed environmental issues.

"We are always happy to host such a bright group of eager students," said Jeff May, Area Manager at Vulcan's McCook Quarry. "Unique opportunities like Earth Science Day enrich the educational experience and energize our local students to apply their textbooks to the real world."

The learning doesn't end with the visit. Students will use their newfound understanding of the quarry to design mine reclamation concepts which will be presented to company officials at a later date.

"We enjoy interacting with the students face-to-face and helping them understand more about mining and what it takes to build a community," said May. "It is our hope they'll take that knowledge with them and use it in the future."

Vulcan's commitment to the community and local schools extends beyond Earth Science Day. Ongoing collaborations include the Hodgkins Extended Learning Program (H.E.L.P.) where students at Hodgkins Elementary receive tutoring and homework help; and Vulcan's annual Halloween safety program brightens the holiday by distributing glow sticks to eager trick-or-treaters.

Click here for photos of Vulcan Earth Science Day.