Without Courtney Kiley, there would be no Ecology and Resource Management course for seniors at CHS. Kiley has dreamt of designing and teaching an ecology class since she was in her 20s— a dream she fulfilled in 2014, after six years of teaching science at CHS. In designing her FOS 4 curriculum, Kiley made sure to keep it flexible to her and her students’ needs; unlike other high school classes with a structured curriculum, Kiley’s Ecology course doesn’t rely on a syllabus or district guidelines.

“One thing that I do at the beginning of each year [is ask] my students, ‘what do you want to learn about?’” Kiley said. “I love that I don't have to meet any kind of science standards or college high school requirements. [Ecology] can basically be whatever [my students and I] want to do.”

With everything she teaches in Ecology, Kiley hopes that her students will leave with values that better their minds and enrich their lives. In particular, Kiley aims to instill the importance of appreciating the outdoors.

“The value of being outside and noticing things in the world around you is so important, particularly in times of trouble, like we've had a lot of lately,” Kiley said.

This value rang especially true for Ava Hartung, a current Ecology student. For one assignment, students identified common Michigan trees around CHS and in their neighborhoods, took pictures of their leaves and bark, and presented them in a slideshow. Hartung learned the most from this project and gained a new interest in and appreciation of the outside world.

“With the leaf collection project, I was able to explore the material we learned in a fun way,” Hartung said. “I learned about the biodiversity of my neighborhood and it really helped spark an interest in identifying nature around me.”

Other CHS seniors in Kiley’s FOS 4 course have gained new knowledge, understanding and experiences from the high level of interactive learning— under Kiley’s flexible direction, Ecology students embark on spontaneous outdoor walks around CHS, and field trips to marshes and nature centers. This interactivity was the biggest takeaway for Jack Bazzani, another student of Ecology.

“The hands-on experience we've had and being able to get out of the classroom is really important to me, especially through field trips and walks outside,” Bazzani said. “It’s a better learning opportunity that has really helped me understand and care more about the material.”

Currently, Kiley’s Ecology students are in the midst of the unit on Michigan wetlands: their functions, their benefits and the wildlife within them. In particular, students learn how wetlands can be used to treat wastewater, municipal wastewater and sewage water, which —as Kiley says— often works better than a traditional water treatment plant. To wrap up this unit, Ecology seniors will do a case study analysis of a renovated or created wetland and present how that wetland has succeeded or failed.

Since 2014, Kiley’s love for her class and its content has only grown. Kiley continually gets to inject her adoration of the environment into a class that she designed, and she can’t wait to see where it will take her and her students in years to come.

“Every year, [Ecology] just gets better and better as we do more field trips and guest speakers and adapt to what is prevalent in the world around us,” Kiley said. “[This class] is my passion.”